The Other Side of the Moon
by orchidsinbloom
Summary: TIVA FF starts at the end of Season 10 & promos released before Season 11 started. I tried to make it a fast page turner. I wanted to incorporate some action, plot twists, and of course romance. It isn't all a bed of roses. Keeping this one semi-clean. Hope I can keep the characters true to who they are-all feedback welcomed. My 1st time, go easy, no hate.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

It had been three weeks since McGee, Ziva and Tony turned in their badges to Director Vance and left their jobs at NCIS. And much to Tony's dismay, Ziva was nowhere to be found. He'd stopped by her apartment, numerous times, but she never answered. She hadn't returned his numerous calls and texts either. And nothing made Tony's curiosity peak more than not knowing what Ziva David was up to.

Through some investigating on his part, he learned she had moved. He asked everyone: Abby, Ducky, Palmer, McGee, Dornegut, even The Director what they knew, but none of them knew anything. It wasn't like her to just up and leave. Just three short weeks ago she was yelling at Gibbs about her family and now without as much as a word to any of them, she was gone.

He went to Gibbs and met up with him in his basement. Surely Gibbs knew something, at least he figured, but he had figured wrong. Gibbs wasn't aware she was gone any more than the rest of the team.

"When she's ready, she'll contact us." Gibbs tried not to make too big of a deal out of it.

Tony ran his fingers through his hair, "I don't know, I don't like it."

"Do you think she's in danger?" Gibbs asked.

"Well the last time she went incognito, we learned she was dead, or so we thought. So Yeah, maybe? Something just isn't sitting right this time around. You know, it's just not like her."

"Okay, see what you can find out. Use your connections." Gibbs instructed.

"Connections?" Tony wanted clarification.

"You know, mutual contacts?" Gibbs said his eye brows lifted.

"I've already asked everyone at work boss." Tony said quite confused.

Bam! The Gibbs slap never failed—"Outside of work DiNozzo. Think outside of work."

"Alright, outside of work boss, got it. Should be no problem," He said that last part to convince himself more than anything.

Tony left Gibb's basement not sure at first who he would call, then it came to him.

He'd track down Schmeil Pinkus.

It took a few phone calls, but Tony was able to meet up with Schmeil in New York the following evening.

After eating a pleasant meal and making Schmeil laugh over one too many drinks, and entertaining him with his character impersonations and movie references, Tony decided it was time to cut to the chase, "You know I have to ask, have you been in touch with Ziva?"

"Not for a couple of weeks? Why? Did you two have a love spat?" His eyes twinkled as he teased the younger man.

"I wish it were something like that, but we quit our jobs three weeks ago and no one has seen her since."

"Yes, I know she quit her job. She wanted to talk about it—on and on and on. But I listened because I would do anything for my Ziva." He explained.

"Did she mention anything about leaving or where she might be headed next?" Tony asked trying to tone down his sense of urgency in the matter.

"No she didn't." he answered shortly, as if he might know something.

Tony's senses were tingling, "Okay then, did she happen to mention she was moving?"

"Ziva moved? She didn't tell me." Now he sounded perplexed. "Tony, relax. If you want to get in touch with Ziva, I'll get you in touch with her. Just give me a few days and I'll see that you have a way to reconnect."

"Thanks, Schmeil." He answered genuinely.

Tony paid for their dinner, saw Schmeil back to his hotel safely as they had both had a lot to drink…then Tony took a cab back to his hotel.

He didn't know where she was, didn't know if she was safe, but he trusted Schmeil to come through for him.

He poured himself a drink, sat down on the hotel sofa and opened his laptop. He checked his email, still nothing from her. He whispered aloud, "_Talk to me Ziva, Where are you_?"

It was frustrating not knowing. He drank down his drink and then headed for a shower and crashed on the hotel bed.

He held on to the hope that he was one step closer to finding Ziva.


	2. Chapter 2

Four A.M. came early no matter what kind of day it was. Tony's cell phone was ringing off the hook, he finally fumbled for it and answered it without checking the caller ID.

"This better be important." Tony groaned.

"I don't know, you tell me?" The vaguely familiar, accented voice answered with a dose of sarcasm.

"Who is this?" Tony asked more alarmed that he didn't immediately recognize the voice.

"I hear you've been asking around about a mutual friend."

_Ziva_, he thought. "That depends on who the mutual friend is." Tony was a bit annoyed but more interested on getting a lead on her whereabouts.

"Meet me, coffee shop at 2nd and Jefferson St. Be there in a half hour, don't be late."

The phone went dead. "2nd and Jefferson," Tony muttered, "I'm at least 45 minutes from there…_shit_." He grabbed the 9mm from his overnight bag, threw on some clothes, and headed as fast as he could to some anonymous coffee shop in the city that never sleeps.

Tony walked in and didn't see anyone he'd recognize. He stood there looking around, and figuring the other party was a no show, decided to walk out. As he turned to leave, a waitress approached him, "You want a cup of coffee?"

"I'm not sure, who's buying?" He questioned.

"Follow me, right this way please." She motioned for him to follow.

Tony cautiously followed her back behind the kitchen and into a back room,

"Please have a seat, Agent DiNozzo." He held out his hand towards the seat adjacent to him.

Tony was stunned to see Adam Eschel sitting across from him. It was one person he'd hoped to never have to see again. But here he was. Tony took his seat, "Adam, so tell me, how is Ziva?"

"Last we spoke, she was well. Safe." Adam answered.

"Okay," Tony swallowed his pride a bit, "when was the last time you spoke to her?"

"About a week ago." He answered, he was studying Tony for a reaction, but Tony was sure to wear his poker face.

"You said she's safe. That presumes she is in danger. Is she in danger?" Tony asked.

"Yes, someone is after her…so she's in hiding. Her location is only known by me and one other person."

This was great. Of course Adam would know where she was while Tony didn't. Tony was feeling a bit sour at this point and he let the sarcasm seethe out, "Well, as long as you know she's safe, I guess I can go home now and sleep like a baby."

Tony went so far as to stand up after he said those words, but Adam's next question stopped him, "I thought you wanted to know where she was?"

He sat back down, "Well that was before." Tony answered.

"I take it Ziva told you about us then?" he asked cautiously.

"Us? You're an 'us' now? Great." He muttered under his breath. Tony was not handling this as well as he could have, and he knew it.

"Tony look, I don't want there to be hard feelings here." he paused took a sip of his coffee, "After Ziva's father died and she had his wake, there was a moment where Ziva and I—"

Tony couldn't look him in the eye, it was too painful to even think about where this conversation was heading, "Please spare me the details." He held up his hand. He looked into his coffee cup, took a sip, "So you two, you're an item now?"

"No." he answered to Tony's surprise. "It was just that one night. But after that night something changed in Ziva. I could see it immediately. Don't get me wrong, if she had wanted more, I wouldn't have said no. But I was a means to an end. It was that simple. It isn't me she's in love with."

Tony finally met Adam's eyes. "So there's someone else?"

"Yes." He answered. "But it surprises me that you do not know?"

"I'm her partner, well _was_ her partner. She obviously hasn't shared this part of her life with me." Tony added reluctantly.

"I figured you knew?" Adam seemed perplexed, "You do care about her don't you?"

That went without saying, and Tony shot him a look like he should know better, "I'm here at 4:55am in the morning having a conversation with her ex-boyfriend about her love life that I'm semi-oblivious to…" It was hard to contain his sarcastic side-but Tony felt side-lined by the whole conversation, but he knew Adam wasn't really the bad guy here and his tone turned sincere, "Of course I care. I'm worried sick."

"You're a man in love, no?" he asked with a smile.

He wasn't going to answer that, not just yet, "Where is she Adam?" was all Tony could think to ask.

"I can help you get to her—but I won't say the location out loud—in case we have uninvited ears."

Tony nodded his head. "Fair enough. When do we go?"

"I need a few days to arrange it—I will be in touch."

"Sounds good," Tony agreed. They discussed some minor details. As he went to leave, he extended his hand to shake Adam's and Adam met him, half standing from the table.

But then Adam gave Tony a look, "Tony, I hate to do this, but I need to let you know something about Ziva."

"Okay, I'm all ears. Shoot."

He sighed a long breath. "Ziva is pregnant."

Tony fell back into his chair. He almost couldn't believe his ears, "Pregnant? How?"

"That one night stand, well it had consequences."

Tony's heart sank. "She's having your baby?"

"The only reason why I know where she is staying is because I was summoned by her a week ago." He sighed, "She told me the news and she asked me to marry her." He paused.

Tony ran his hands through his hair, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Tell me you didn't say no." He just needed one good reason to punch him.

"Please, do not get mad at me agent DiNozzo. It was the last thing either of us expected, but no, I could not agree to marry her."

"She's carrying your baby! How could you say no?" He protested outloud—while inside he was quite conflicted.

"Because Agent DiNozzo, she does not love me. She never did. Remember, I was a means to an end. She was grieving. She used me that night, and I let her. But that was as far as it went. When she told me the news of her pregnancy and asked me to marry her, I told her I would do my part and more to support her and the baby, but I could not in good conscience marry her. Her heart belongs to you, Agent DiNozzo, not me. It wouldn't be fair to either of us or to you."

Tony swallowed hard. This was more than he knew how to process. He was lost in his thoughts when Adam stood up, "I'll be in touch. Be packed and ready, we won't have much time to depart when I call."

Tony nodded. A lot had changed in a short amount of time. He wasn't so sure what he was getting himself into—but he knew there were things Ziva and he needed to talk about so he needed to get home and get packed and worry about the rest once he was with her and he knew she was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony walked in Gibb's front door. Gibbs was watching a John Wayne classic, _She Wore a Yellow Ribbon_, eating a steak and drinking a beer.

"Hey boss." Tony announced himself.

"Hey," he said with a mouthful of steak, "Grab yourself a beer and have a seat."

Tony nodded, headed for the fridge. Grabbed a beer and opened it. Then walked back in the living room and sat on the sofa and leaned back—and feasted his eyes on the old black and white tube.

They watched the infamous scene where John Wayne is talking to his young lieutenant. In unison, both Gibbs and Tony recited the famous John Wayne line—"Never apologize, mister. It's a sign of weakness," outloud, in their best John Wayne impersonating voices.

They both laughed, downed some more of their beers, and watched a few more minutes of the movie. Then Gibbs got up, turned the t.v. off. because he sensed DiNozzo had something to get off his chest. Gibbs asked, "What's on your mind?"

Tony looked down into his beer bottle, "Ziva's in hiding." He answered. "Found out someone is after her, just have to figure out who and why."

"Yeah, I found that out already. She was smart for going into hiding. She's on the CIA's hit list." Gibbs said.

Tony put down his beer, he was suddenly sick to his stomach, looking over at Gibbs "CIA? Why?"

"According to them, lots of reasons. She was part of the reason Ray Cruz, one of their own, is behind bars today, then she took out Bodner, they looked at her background and her connections. Her father was the head of Mossad. She has a lot of foreign national connections and some of those lines got blurry. They think she's a spy and they are not going to stop hunting her. Not this time not until they have her behind bars or they find out she's dead."

"This is ridiculous!" Tony felt exasperated, "Can't we talk to someone there?"

"Leon and I –we spent the better part of the day trying. They've got a file this thick on her," He spread his hands about a foot apart.

"Damn it! She's not a spy!" DiNozzo almost shouted.

"You know that and I know that—but they're not convinced."

"So how do we convince them?" Tony asked.

Gibbs sighed outward, this wasn't going to be easy and he really didn't have a good answer, "I'm not sure we can."

It was the worst kind of news Tony could have heard…and he had a sinking feeling that wouldn't leave him. He calmed down after a moment, "A mutual contact put me in touch with another mutual contact. And he can take me to her. Do you think I should still go?"

Gibbs cocked his head to the side, "Well, she's still one of us," but then he cautioned, "but...you could be asking for a lot of trouble, DiNozzo. So I guess it depends."

"On?" He asked.

"Whether you want that kind of responsibility, you might be in hiding with her for a long time. You won't just be trying to keep her safe, you'll be trying to keep yourself safe as well, especially when they figure it out. Once you go in—you'll jeopardize her safety if you leave and you'll jeopardize your own."

DiNozzo knew this was true—but he also knew more about her current situation then he was letting on. Adam wasn't going to be there for her-he had made that clear-and Tony knew staying hidden with a baby wasn't going to be an easy feat. Besides, he knew his heart couldn't live with not seeing her again. "She's my partner, boss," he said simply.

"Then I guess you know what you have to do—" Gibbs answered proudly. He would have chosen the same thing if he were in Tony's shoes and he knew Tony had Ziva's best interests in mind. "You're going to have to be careful...unlike any assignment you've had before. Once they figure out you're protecting her, they won't hesitate to take you out with her. _A lot of responsibility_."

"So I'm signing my death warrant by going?" He knew the answer to the question.

"Won't be the first time." Gibbs shrugged.

"No, it wouldn't be. But we thought she went down with the Damocles back then."

"The ink was just a little thicker, that's all." Gibbs smiled.

Tony was quiet for a long moment—lost in thought, then he explained, "I have to do this boss. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't."

"I know." They exchanged a look and Tony knew Gibbs knew, "You find her. Make sure she stays safe."

"I will." Tony answered then stated the obvious, "I might not be coming back anytime soon."

"However long it takes, DiNozzo. Just have each other's backs." Gibbs stared directly at him.

"Always." Tony answered.

There was this long moment of silence between the two men who had formed a father-son bond over the years. One finishing his beer-the other one looking out the window. The older one proud of who the younger one had become...reminiscent of a younger version of himself. And the younger one-with immense respect and admiration for the older one, hoping he could one day fill his shoes.

Tony took an envelope out of his jacket pocket, "Hey could you do me a favor?"

"What's this?" Gibbs asked, taking the envelope from Tony.

"It's a letter, incase anything should happen, just see that Senior gets it."

Gibbs wore a look of surprise on his face. He hadn't expected that Tony had thought things through about protecting Ziva until they spoke about it that evening. The realization hit Gibbs that Tony already thought things through before he walked through his front door. He didn't say anything, just stared down at the words "Dad" scrawled on the front of the envelope.

Tony added,"Just in case. It would mean a lot to me."

Gibbs nodded his head, "If I need to-I will-You have my word." He gave a nod towards the front door, "Go. Find her."

Tony stood, "Thanks Boss."

"Take care of her DiNozzo." He waited a moment, "And yourself."

Tony had an unsettling feeling as he walked out Gibbs front door. Things were changing...and there were a lot of unknowns. He headed back to his apartment and made sure he had all his stuff together.

And then he waited.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony received the call two days later at 5am in the morning. The meeting place was a small airport. They took a twin engine to Quebec and a private flight to England and from there; they flew another charter into Israel.

Tony and Adam didn't converse much on these flights—they kept all conversations to small talk. Tony couldn't help but wonder how Adam really felt in all of this. A part of him somewhat liked the guy, yet at the same time, knowing what he knew about Adam and Ziva and now a baby; there was so much not to like.

But that wasn't what this was about. He had resolved to find Ziva and ensure her safety. Then he could figure out where they stood or if they even stood a chance. Tony had to focus, but it was hard when he was sitting next to Adam for hours on end.

Once they made the final decent and taxied up to the airport in Tel Aviv, Adam motioned for Tony to de-board the plane. "Someone you will recognize will be waiting for you once you get off this plane. I am going on to the next stop." He extended his hand to shake Tony's "Take care of her Tony."

Tony shook his hand, "Thanks, Adam."

Tony walked off the plane half expecting to see Ziva, when a steely faced older lady eyeballed him, "Tony DiNozzo?" She said softly. "Please come with me."

Orli lead him to a limo and the driver opened the door. They were whisked away for over an hour and half drive to a remote location in the countryside of Israel.

Orli conducted business as they drove. She offered Tony a drink. Initially, he refused. And the longer the drive took, the more his nerves were on edge.

"You look like a scared cat, DiNozzo." She observed.

"This is Ziva, we're talking about," he admitted "I never know what I'm in for when I see her."

"Well for crying out loud, don't show up looking so damn scared. She is still Ziva. She will put her walls up instantly if she knows you're nervous. So have a drink."

He took the drink from her and downed it quickly. "Another?" he asked.

"Be my guest." She answered, still studying him.

"Let me ask you," he was curious, "How safe is she?"

"As safe as I can make her, but not totally. No one is totally safe ever. You should know that."

He nodded, he knew all too well.

"You understand why she came to Israel, do you not? She can't live where she's going to be hunted by her own government. While I can't guarantee her complete safety, she is former Mossad and the former Director's daughter, and therefore we use our resources to protect our own. I owe her that much." Orli was waiting for his reply.

"So she's expecting me?" he asked.

"She's hopeful. She does not know when or if you will come—but I've been to see her twice. She keeps looking out the front windows of her Mother's old home. She is waiting on someone to show up." She studied him for a moment, "I think that someone is you." Orli looked away briefly, "Well, at least I think it's you. She's a woman in love. I know that much."

Tony nodded. "How much longer until we get there?"

"Just up here," She said as the limo came to a halt. "See this driveway?"

Tony looked at a driveway winding up a steep hill with no immediate end in sight, then looked at Orli in astonishment; he hadn't exactly brought his climbing gear with him.

Orli shrugged, "It's a small hike, but you'll manage. We're dropping you here, you will find her up the drive in the small home on the other end."

Tony grabbed his bag and stepped out, and the limo swiftly sped away.

_So much for door to door service,_ he thought. Tony didn't see anyone or anything for miles—but a drive way, with lots of grass and trees ascending up a hillside. He started walking up the long drive.

It was hot, he was out of breath, and he wasn't exactly wearing the right shoes for this type of terrain. He made his way to the top and the land leveled out. He spotted a small house with a huge olive grove out behind it in the distance. He approached it cautiously…not walking too fast…not walking too slow, just keeping his pace even. He wondered if Ziva was looking out the front window watching him walk up the driveway. He wondered what her reaction would be once he saw her.

He finally reached the house and amazingly, he heard nothing. He walked to the front door knocked twice, and no answer. He looked around him and he saw no sign of anyone moving about.

He walked around to the back side of the house and noticed the back door was open, so he knocked on the screen door and peered around inside.

"Hello?" he called.

Still no answer. He looked through the Olive trees—maybe he missed her?

He didn't see her anywhere.

He let himself in quietly and walked through the small living room, checked the kitchen in the front of the house. There was no sign of her inside the house so far, and he was becoming a bit alarmed. He went down a small hall and peered in one of the bedrooms. He didn't see her so he continued to the end of the hallway and then finally found her asleep in the smaller bedroom. She was lying on her side—facing a window that had a view of the long driveway he'd just climbed..

He let out a sigh of relief because he had finally found her. He put down his bags next to a chair in her room and looked back at her. She was sleeping there, surprisingly still unaware of his presence.

He walked over and sat quietly next to her on the bed. He admired peaceful form, resting comfortably. He couldn't help but brush the lock of curls that had fallen across her cheek and tucked them behind her ear.

Ziva still did not stir.

He had traveled half way around the world to find her and he was thankful that he was finally there...

She could sleep as long as she needed, because as far as Tony was concerned, he had her back.


	5. Chapter 5

Finally her eyes fluttered open, at first a sleepy smile slipped across her face, but then reality hit her and she bolted up right in bed ready to attack the living shit out of Tony.

"Hey, it's just me." He said catching her arms.

"Tony!" She was clearly rattled that she wasn't alone. It took her a few minutes to catch her breath, "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Not long," he answered, trying to get a sense on how she felt.

Ziva was still not quite over the shock of seeing him, "You came?"

"Well you know me, I'm not very good at staying away," He joked half-heartedly.

Ziva wanted to relax but she couldn't just yet, "How did you find me?"

"That was a bit tricky, but Schmeil sends his love, as does Gibbs, Adam, and Orli."

"No one else knows you're here?"

"Technically Schmeil doesn't know where I've gone, nor does Gibbs, but they know I went to find you."

"The less people that know, the better," she said aloud.

"So I gather. The CIA –they're a bunch of bastards, you know?"

She rolled her eyes at the understatement, huffing out a sarcastic laugh "You think? Try telling me something I do not already know."

He studied her for a minute, "Well, I hear that you're going to be a Mom." He revealed, his eyebrow raised, but there was definitely a sadness in his eyes.

"Adam told you?" she guessed, annoyed that she didn't get the chance to tell him first.

"Yes, he also said you popped the question." His voice had an under current of sarcasm but mostly disappointment.

She had to look away, she knew this would be difficult to explain, "Tony, I-" She had no idea where to begin.

"He told me he said no." Tony had to ask to be sure, "Are you okay with that? Because if not, I'm willing to drag him back here and make him reconsider." Although it came off as a joke, he would have done it if she asked.

She laughed softly, "Thank you. I am fine with it." She felt the need to explain, "I do not love Adam, not in _that_ way. We are just friends. I guess I just –"

"Ziva," Tony interrupted, "you do not owe me an explanation."

"I know." She answered, "I –I-"

Tony felt the air was a bit thick and needed to change the subject, "So are you hungry?"

"Tony." She knew he was avoiding the topic and she was concerned about how the news was affecting him, "I know it must not have been easy hearing this from Adam."

"Well, sweet cheeks, it was definitely no picnic, but I managed through the conversation somehow." Tony avoided any head on discussion over his feelings, but part of him couldn't let the subject go entirely. He looked at her, "I am just still trying to wrap my mind around all of it." He added solemnly.

"You and I both." Ziva agreed, "There are times I almost cannot believe it-except I am tired all of the time now and sleep too much."

"I have a question for you." Tony looked at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Why would you trust Orli and Adam if you were in danger, but you not trust me. I thought we were partners and we had each others' backs?"

Ziva didn't want Tony to be upset. She shook her head fervently, "It wasn't like that, Tony. I went to workout at the gym that day we resigned at NCIS. I parked outside my apartment and two men attacked me. I almost," she paused long enough to show her distaste for what had happened, "did not escape that. These men-I thought they had accents. I immediately concluded they were Mossad. I went to Orli, accusing her of sending Mossad after me. However, she insisted that Director Vance had sent all of Mossad out of the US. I confirmed this with Director Vance. After that, another attempt was taken on my life and I realized it was someone from our own government. One of the men, dropped his badge. I knew it was US Government, I could not get a line on which agency before he kicked it out of my sight. After that, I knew I needed to go into hiding, so I called Orli."

"You could have called me." he said flatly.

"I was worried that because you were my partner, they might be tracing your calls or my calls." Ziva took a deep breath and continued, "Orli arranged for me to get here discretely. She was the only one that knew where I was until a week ago. That is when I found out about this…" She gestured towards her nonexistent belly bump. "I told Orli of my suspicions. I was seen by a medic, who confirmed them." She shrugged.

"Well you seemed to get word to Adam just fine-Orli could have just as easily contacted me." Tony said still feeling hurt.

Ziva sighed, "Tony, I as much as I didn't plan for this, I am carrying his child. I felt I owed it to Adam to tell him."

"I understand you wanting to tell him," his voice cracked, "but Ziva, you proposed." He stood up and walked across the room and looked out the window.

"What would you have me do?" she asked defensively slightly raising her voice, "_I had just found out I was pregnant!_ I thought the baby deserved both its mother and its father."

"And now?" He asked knowing Adam had said no to her proposal.

Ziva struggled with her words"I still think... this baby... deserves a mother and a father." Her voice grew distant, "But apparently things do not always work out like we'd like them to."

"So you'd like for Adam..."

She interrupted him, "Tony, I've only known I've been pregnant a week. What I would like, is to bring a healthy child into the world, straighten out the mess I now find myself in, and then maybe figure out where that leaves me and this child."

"Does that mean Adam is not in the picture?" He was curious.

"Adam is a good friend, Tony. He will do what he needs to do to support me and the baby, he has at least promised that. But, he is not father material. I knew this before I asked him...I just wanted to give him the chance to decide for himself. I wasn't surprised by his answer in the least." She explained.

Now he wished he had punched the bastard. It hit home a little too hard-knowing that this child would one day learn that his father would really rather have not been burdened. He knew that seen all too well. And as far as Ziva was concerned, he still cared about her, a lot. If he'd be honest with himself for all of 30 seconds, he could admit to himself he loved her. He knew there was no point holding on to what was already done and he started to soften around the edges.

"Tony, you are the last person I wanted to hurt in all of this. All I have thought about since I arrived here, is how I would get word to you without compromising my safety. How I could let you know. How I could avoid hurting you again. How you would react when you learned the news." She looked away, and added softly, "And if you'd ever forgive me for the mess I've made of everything." Her voice faded with a sadness and it made Tony turn his head in her direction. "I did not want to leave to come here. I had no choice."

"I get it," he admitted, "I do." He just couldn't stay mad or hurt or be upset very long where she was concerned. He walked over and stood next to the bed she was sitting on, "And, now I'm here. I just hope you can trust me." His voice was soft, his eyes distant.

She stifled a sniffle, "I trust you Tony. I know I haven't been very good at showing you that, but I do trust you." She reached up and took his hand.

Tony looked down and watched as their fingers intertwined. Then his eyes met Ziva's and for a moment their souls danced.

"Okay." He nodded. They continued to hold each other's gaze until finally Tony asked, "Are you sure you're not hungry? Because I'm starving."

She stood to her feet facing him, "Then I shall make us something to eat." She smiled, genuinely thankful that he was there.

She went to walk around him to go to the kitchen, but he couldn't let her go, _not yet_. So he stopped her, "What, no hug for your partner?"

Ziva's eyes nearly welled up with tears, and she tried hard to keep her face even, but she couldn't contain her emotions and she wrapped her arms around his neck and he folded her into his embrace. And Ziva whispered, "How about a hug for my best friend?"

Tony squeezed her a little tighter when he heard those words. Relief swept over both of them as they held each other for a few long moments. Being in each others arms felt right and a smile lingered on both of their faces, even after they pulled away. They couldn't help but look deep into each others eyes again-their souls connecting.

Gravity took over and starting pulling them together; their lips almost touching.

"G-r-r-r-u-u-u-r-r-r-r-g-g-g-g-l-l-l-s-s-s-h-h-h!" Tony's stomach growled loudly. Tony's face flushed and Ziva's eyes grew wide as she looked down at his stomach. They both pulled apart and laughed at the interruption.

"I think I should make you your dinner now," she smiled and took his hand in hers and led him to the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 6

Ziva made them a simple dinner. She poured Tony some wine and she drank water. Ziva explained about the house where they were staying, as it was her mother's vacation home after the divorce from her father.

Tony was mostly quiet, observant. He noticed how her face lit up when she spoke of her mother and he couldn't help but notice she seemed to be glowing. Ziva was as beautiful as ever, yet different somehow. Maybe it was from being alone in this house with no outside contact from others for a few weeks. Maybe it was because they didn't spend much time together outside of work, not like this anyway. He couldn't put his finger on it…but it was definitely something.

Ziva finally broke her conversation, "What Tony? Why are you staring?"

"No reason." He smiled.

She brushed it off turning her attention towards more important matters, "Listen, I should tell you, a few things that you need to know, just in case we should encounter trouble." She stood up, "Follow me."

He followed her into the small living room.

"Okay, first of all," Ziva went into operation mode, "we need a code word in case we encounter trouble. Something only you and I will understand."

Tony thought for a moment, "Somalia?"

Ziva nodded, "Good, our code word is 'Somalia'" she studied him for a minute, "If either one of us uses that word, we have to meet in this room, as quickly as possible."

"Okay?" he looked around, observing the windows. "Anyone from the outside can see us from three sides in this room.

"I realize that—if necessary-we should stay low—crawl around to this closet here."

He saw the wall wasn't completely flush all the way down, and he realized that there was a door to a closet cleverly hidden in the paneled wall.

Ziva opened the closet door, "Looks like a closet, but," she lifted up a trap door, "down these steps is a tunnel. This is our escape route." She flipped a switch and the descending steps and tunnel below lit up. "Also, all of our supplies that Orli sends us comes up through this tunnel."

Tony was highly impressed. It explained why he was dropped at the bottom of that long driveway. "Wow—very James Bondish."

"Anything we need we can request, Orli will make sure we get what we need. She delivers everything on Thursday, I just need to have requests in by Wednesday.

"So I can order up a television, dvd, player, and some movies?" He asked observing this place didn't have any form or entertainment in it.

"I said she would supply anything we need, not anything we want, Tony."

"That's a bummer—couldn't she make an exception?"

She just stared at him. "May I continue now?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yes teacher, continue with our class session, please."

She sighed, "Tony, if the danger is too close and one of us hasn't made it to this room, the other one must exit and get to the tunnel. Orli will have a crew to evacuate us at the other end. So if for some reason we are not together, for whatever reason…" she let her voice trail.

"There's only one shot at rescue—is that what you're telling me?"

She nodded. "On the other side of the trap door is a lock. We are to lock the door behind us because we cannot have the tunnel compromised. It is only a one way tunnel and if it is compromised in anyway, we would be trapped down there. So the rule is we exit as quickly as possible, lock the door from the other side and go to the other end."

He half smiled, "That is easy then, we just stick together. You don't leave my sight. Ever."

"Tony." She said, "Listen to me—we cannot let our emotions get in the way on this one. Do you understand?"

"All too well, unfortunately." He was more serious. "But what if neither of us can get here?"

"Then we fight until we do or-" she didn't have to say the rest.

He just nodded and then thought out loud, "What is the likelihood that the CIA will find us here?"

Ziva shook her head, "I do not know. You know the CIA better than probably I do."

He did a quick assessment, "Well we're not using cell phones here or any sort of computer equipment-I think we're virtually undetectable."

"That is not true. We are using electricity here—"

"Everyone uses electricity," he reasoned.

"True-but this was once my Mother's house. After she passed, no one stayed here, there was no electricity usage here for many, many years. All they have to do is some digging. If someone dug into the history on this place and then looked at activity levels they could figure it out."

He hadn't thought of that, "So it is not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

She nodded her head, "Yes," she said and immediately saw the worry in his eyes. "Listen, it is okay. We'll just be ready."

Tony was a bit worried…how long would this go on, "So then where to Ziva? Do you plan to run the rest of your life?"

"Until Orli or Gibbs can figure out a way to get me off the hook, yes I am willing to stay hidden."

"With a baby? How does that work?" he was genuinely concerned.

"The baby was something I found out about after I came here. I am still running it through my mind. I know Adam will support me and the baby but I haven't ruled out giving the baby up.," She sighed—it weighed heavily on her mind, tears started forming at the corners of her eyes at the thought, but she quickly brushed them away, "I am sort of holding out hope that things can be cleared up before the baby gets here." She started laughing nervously through the tears she tried to hide, "I am not sure yet. But I know a life on the run is dangerous and unfair to a child to have to live through. I could never forgive myself if..."

"Hey," Tony realized just then that she never asked to be put in this position. And he could see how much her predicament bothered her. She didn't deserve this. "Listen, we'll figure it out. And I'm here for as long as it takes. I plan to keep you safe—and the baby." He wasn't sure he was as reassuring as he thought he sounded.

"It is very sweet of you, but you know as well as I do, we can only do so much."

"This is bullshit!" he snapped, "How in the hell can the CIA target a pregnant woman? You've done nothing wrong…perhaps pissed off some people, but who hasn't?"

"Tony, I only found out myself that I am pregnant, I am certain they have no idea." She swallowed, seemingly over her emotions on the subject for the moment, "It is what it is…until it can be changed, I will learn to live with it."

"But you shouldn't have to be separated from your child over this. It is just wrong Ziva."

His words hung in the air maybe a bit longer than they should have.

Ziva needed to broach the subject, so she treaded carefully, "Tony, where do we stand?"

He looked at her, blinked a few times and then shook his head, "What do you mean, where do we stand?"

"You came all this way to protect me. You say you are willing to keep me and the baby safe?"

"Yes, of course I am." He was confused as to what exactly she was asking.

"I need to know Tony, what about _us_?"

"As in you and me?" he clarified.

She nodded.

"I don't know where we stand, or if we are an 'us'…or will be an 'us'. The last time we broached the subject we had a 'friendship,' but honestly I don't know."

"I know. It isn't something we ever talk about." She admitted.

He was a bit uncomfortable at first, "Ziva, I think you've known for some time," he tried to loosen a tie he wasn't wearing, then just pulled at his shirt and cleared his throat, "I have feelings. I haven't been able to act on anything because of the job. The day we quit, I was hoping we could move forward, but you disappeared."

Then he looked past her eyes and into her soul, and his voice cracked, "And then 4 weeks later, I'm here in Israel with you, hidden away in a small house on the side of a hill." His voice was filled with genuine emotion, "And you're in danger, and pregnant, and beautiful and I'm not sure that I should have any feelings for you after all of that—but if you're asking me if I still have them? Then yes, the answer is I do." He held her stare for just a few moments longer, then looked out the window, "If anything, coming here just confirmed that my feelings are as real as ever." He slowly turned back towards her.

Ziva's face lit up at Tony's words, not so much because of what he said, although that was part of it, but because of how honest his emotions were as he said them. She took both of his hands in hers, and looked him in the eyes, "Tony, I do not know how I deserve someone like you in my life, but I'm glad you came here." She smiled sheepishly and continued, "I think we share some of the same feelings."

He shot her a look of surprise. Ziva David was revealing her feelings. He never thought he'd see this day.

She continued, "I guess what I need to know is if you would still want to _move forward_ as you did just a few short weeks ago, knowing that I'm carrying a child that is not your own?"

He didn't have words at first to answer what she had just asked him. He swallowed hard.

She braced herself emotionally, "I will understand if you do not."

He could never do that to her, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and his eyes wandered from the top of her forehead, slowly down to her chin and then caught her eyes once again. He answered her softly, "Of course I do," he gave her a small smile, "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

She squeezed his hands. "I think then, we shall take things slow."

"I can live with that," he answered. "I need to stay focused. Just in case we have any trouble."

"I think you might find that quite difficult. There is not much to do here—and boredom is brutal around here."

"Are you sure Orli can't arrange for some DVD's and an entertainment system?"

She smiled, "I'll see what I can do."

Just then they heard a loud banging noise near the front door off the kitchen. Ziva ducked, Tony went for his weapon, which was conveniently in the bedroom in his bag. He motioned her to get down, which she did and he made his way slowly into the kitchen.

He noticed the front door had swung open and hit the wall behind it. "I think the wind must have caught the front door." He yelled.

She walked in the kitchen behind him, "There was no wind Tony. The door was locked shut. I checked it myself, I always keep it locked."

As soon as she said it, he ran out front trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of anyone—but he didn't see anyone or anything. "You sure it was locked?" He said walking back through the front door.

Ziva gave Tony a grave look, and answered in all seriousness, "I'm absolutely positive."


	7. Chapter 7

The incident with the door left Tony unsettled. He made a mental note of two things: he didn't leave his gun further than arms length away and he knew where Ziva was at all times.

The night waned on; Ziva grew tired and she went to bed, but Tony didn't sleep a wink.

He killed all the lights in the house and just paced, up and down the hall, and back and forth between the living room and the kitchen. Looking out the windows constantly scanning for any movement.

The dilemma he found himself in is that without sleep he couldn't protect her during the day. If someone had indeed opened that front door, they had done so while it was still daylight, which meant they intended only to give them a warning. More was coming and he knew it.

He tried to sit on the couch and relax, but found himself restless. He stretched out in the chair in Ziva's room, but his back couldn't take it. He settled for laying on the bed in the front bedroom, door open, only twilight sleeping allowed.

And it felt as if he had just shut his eyes when a door slammed and he sat straight up in bed and cocked his weapon. Daylight had set in and he discovered it was just Ziva in the bathroom. He put the weapon on the night stand, rubbed his face and laid back on the bed for a minute to stretch out.

He had closed his eyes just for a moment when Ziva's voice brought him back to reality, "Sleep well, Tony?"

He opened his eyes and shook his head, "Not exactly. You?"

"Like a baby."

She observed him for a few minutes, "You are worried,"

"Yes," he admitted, "somewhat."

"I am putting a call into Orli today, to have her see what she can find out."

He had assessed the situation all night in his mind, "Ziva," he said finally, "if someone opened that door—they did it to send a warning. I don't have a good feeling about this."

She walked over and sat on the bed next to him, "Tony, you and I have faced danger before."

"But this is different, Ziva," he explained sitting up to face her, "Before we were always after someone, solving a case, working with an entire team-that danger was in the line of duty. But this is different. This time, you are the one they are after—and you only have me for back up...and we don't know how many of them there are. And that sort of turns the tables a bit."

"Tony," she swallowed, "a bullet is a bullet is a bullet. We just have to be ready."

"Then tell Orli I want weapons and ammo."

"We have an escape route," she reminded him.

"And unless we can get to it, it will do us no good. Also, I want door alarms."

"As in a security system?" she raised her eyebrows.

"No, you know those little chimey things that ding-dong when you walk into certain stores. It will give us some reaction time, and most people don't think to look for them."

"You are really worried aren't you?" She asked. "Tony, you and I, we can handle what comes our way."

He ran his fingers through his hair and just like that it slipped without him realizing, "But Ziva, it's not just about you and I anymore. We have a baby on the way and that ups the stakes considerably."

Tony never failed to surprise her. Ziva wasn't thinking like she was pregnant, mostly because she'd only learned about it the week before, but Tony had known only a few days and he was already trying to figure out how to keep _them_ safe.

And she had to admit she liked that he had said 'we'. _We have a baby on the way_ echoed in her mind. _We_. She smiled as her emotions over took her. It was more than her partner having her back—it was her best friend holding her heart. He was more than she could hope for and so much more than she thought she deserved. She reached over and took his hand. He brought his eyes towards her, and she whispered, "Thank you."

He squeezed her hand, but he didn't have the words to speak.

Ziva placed her hand other hand on the side of his cheek, looking from his eyes and slowly towards his lips. She leaned in and he met her half way.

Their lips brushed gently at first, tenderly finding their rhythm. Then they danced playfully, exploring, and tasting. The more Ziva thought about what was transpiring the more she couldn't contain her smile.

Tony's hand let go of hers and wrapped around the back of her neck and he whispered breathlessly, "Come here, you," and he pulled her in, for a more in depth analysis. His lips parted, his tongue met hers and he pulled her towards him as he leaned back on the head board.

Ziva melted and closed her eyes. She took in his spicy scent and it intoxicated her. She found herself leaning into him wanting more with each breath becoming addicted to how he tasted and how he felt.

As their kiss deepened, they had gone from slow and sensual to hungry and wild for each other's touch. They were both desperately seeking the other one physically; bodies molding, hands searching, lips not able to get enough. The intensity level had surprised them both…and they suddenly needed air.

Ziva gasped and held a look of surprise on her face. Her mouth hung open ever so slightly, as the electricity between them sizzled.

Tony was just as taken by their passion and hunger. He wanted nothing more than to make love to her right then and there, but he remembered she had said she wanted to go slow, and he would somehow try to honor that previous request.

Ziva brought her hand back up to his check, and he took her hand with his and brought it to his lips, and kissed it tenderly, never letting his eyes leave hers. "That was some kiss," he said sweetly.

She gave a breathless laugh and a smile—leaning in just a little to indicate she wanted more where that came from.

"We need to take these things slow," Tony reminded her gently, "And I'd feel better knowing we've secured this place a bit before we start having midday collision courses." His lips curled up as he teased her. He was relieved when the smile on her face told him she had caught his drift.

"Then I need to make that call to Orli right away," she was saying one thing but her eyes said so much more, "because my appetite just grew exponentially and I do not mean in the way of food," she teased back.

The look Ziva gave Tony as she stood up, about sent him over the edge. He didn't know exactly how he was going to control himself around her—but he knew he had to make it a priority to ensure their safety, before they went any further.

Ziva stood up and went into the kitchen to use the secure phone to contact Orli and make their requests.

Tony wondered just what the hell he would do to distract himself from her the rest of the day. He knew one thing for sure; it wasn't going to be easy. It was only Tuesday and supplies didn't arrive for another two days.


	8. Chapter 8

Orli had sent Ziva and Tony supplies on Thursday morning. The supplies consisted of food, household items, guns, ammo, and the door chimers, which took Tony most of the day to assemble. Tony was especially happy when a small entertainment system and a box of DVD's showed up to help kill some of the boredom.

Tony took on the task of securing the home as best he could, making sure they had access to firepower no matter which room they were in, and that they had enough ammo to fight off an Army.

Ziva kept busy putting away the food, doing laundry, and helping Tony when asked.

Finally Tony was able to concentrate on hooking up the television, dvd player, and speakers and then finally he got to dig into the movies.

"Oh Yes!" he shouted opening the box like a kid on Christmas morning, "Orli must have spoken to Gibbs—_look at this_—it's every John Wayne movie you could think of…"

Ziva walked into the living room from the kitchen, quite concerned, "Did she happen to send any other type of movies?"

"_Any other type of movies_?" Tony echoed incredulously as if he couldn't believe she just asked that question, "She could only possibly top this if she sent the entire Bond series –now that would be a gold mine, which I have back at home. 'Ahhh, my collection is awesome." He thought a moment and said to himself, "Man, I miss it right about now. I don't think I know anyone that could top my collection short of Hollywood itself."

"So what you are saying is we have a bunch of John Wayne movies to pass our time with until next week, and there isn't anything in that box that I might possibly enjoy?"

"Are you kidding me? How could you not enjoy at least one John Wayne movie? He's iconic!" Tony said bewildered she didn't share the love.

"I hate to tell you this, Tony, but not everyone enjoys watching those type of movies. I prefer a good romantic comedy, myself. Something a bit more modern."

"Hmph." Tony said. "Well I guess for now, you're stuck watching these with me."

She rolled her eyes, "Are you sure she didn't send anything else?"

He looked again, "Oh wait, here's one for you, 50 First Dates."

She furrowed her brow, "Well, I've seen it already, but I'll take it."

"Ziva, you disappoint me. I mean, have you actually seen an entire John Wayne movie?" he asked.

"Yes," she thought a moment" Well, no…not an entire movie—but enough to know that isn't my cup of coffee," she answered.

"Tea. Cup of Tea." He corrected. "Okay so we'll watch your 50 First Dates then we'll settle in for maybe "The Searchers."

"Well, we have more work to do, first. We need to go out and harvest olives from the trees."

"Don't they have ground keepers to do that?" He asked not too happy about what that job might entail.

"Technically, it is us, Tony. And it won't hurt to do some real work around here."

"Hey wait a minute, I've been doing real work around here all day," he whined.

She rolled her eyes, "Basket," she pointed to the corner lifting her eyebrows, "Come on, follow me."

They spent two hours picking olives and Tony didn't even like olives, unless they were served in a martini. What the heck they'd do with all these olives was beyond him.

When they had finished, Tony cleaned up and Ziva made them dinner. He was looking forward to their first movie night, until he found out that Orli didn't send popcorn.

He protested, "How can we have movie night and no popcorn?"

Ziva shook her head, some things with Tony would never change.

Tony popped in the movie Ziva wanted to watch. He sat on one end of the sofa, and Ziva curled up on the other end, her feet extending his direction. Within minutes she had started snoring. The day's events apparently wore her out.

Tony popped out the DVD of 50 First Dates and popped in the John Wayne movie, figuring they could watch her movie later when she woke up.

About half way through, Tony was so engrossed, he had not realized Ziva had woke up, but he kept feeling her toes kick into the side of his legs. And he kept moving them away absent mindedly, thinking she was prodding him in her sleep.

Finally to get Tony's attention, Ziva kicked him pretty hard with her big toe, and he realized she'd been intentionally nudging him the whole time. He gave her a sideways glance and chose to ignore her—and she tried to pinch his leg with her big and second toes.

Except that proved to be a mistake, because he quickly grabbed her foot and started tickling her.

She started turning and kicking to get out of his grasp, unable to take such torture she was trying not to laugh but it kept escaping her. Her other foot ended up kicking him pretty hard as a reflex, which came with an uncontrollable laugh from Ziva. Tony yelped, grabbed both of her feet, and persisted in his tickling rage.

Ziva kept squirming and broke free momentarily but Tony narrowed his eyes, "Oh yeah?" and he pinned both her legs down, using one of his legs and started tickling her waist.

"Tony!" she laughed, "This is not fair!"

"You could kick my ass and you know it…you're just enjoying this too much!" he laughed back, agonizing her with constant tickling.

The next thing he knew he was straddled practically on top of her, his legs pinning her legs down, his one arm holding her hands at bay the other one trying to tickle her relentlessly.

Ziva narrowed her eyes at Tony, "What do you mean I could?" Then in one swift move, she freed her arm long enough to push his shoulder all the way over, and flipped him onto the floor, and now she was straddling him, "I think I just did."

He knew he was in trouble. He wasn't sure what kind of trouble, but he knew this situation wasn't going in his favor.

She tried to tickle him back, but apparently Tony was not ticklish. Tony tried to take advantage of her maneuver by gaining leverage, but she immediately pushed both his shoulders into the ground pinning him so he could not move. "Oh no, I don't think so," she said playfully, determined on revenge.

"Okay, Ziva. What exactly do you plan on doing?" He challenged her because he didn't think she was actually going to do anything after the tickling maneuver failed.

Ziva leaned in real close to his face and wrinkled her nose ever so slightly. Staring him directly in the eyes, and evil grin grew across her face, "This." Ziva whipped her head to the side of his neck and licked his ear, much like she had in that sexual harassment training class a few years back.

"Ziva stop!" Tony squirmed.

But she licked him again.

"Come on! That's just—would you stop it?" Tony whaled as he had this thing with germs.

"How about the other side?" She teased bringing her eyes to his once again.

He tried to wiggle free but she just pushed him into the ground once again, holding him there, "Alright, come on. You win, okay, just—don't—"

Too late, she licked his other ear and part of his neck. Then she giggled, "Have you had enough?"

"You're no fun." He pouted.

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrow, "maybe I should try again?"

"No! No!" he called, "Please, not that."

She looked him in the eyes again, this time her voice was more suggestive, "We could try something else."

"Hmmm," he wasn't sure it wasn't another trick, "what exactly do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking," she said averting her eyes from his down to his lips, "maybe something a little more fun?"

"Fun?" he asked, "_Define_ fun."

She didn't hesitate, she pressed her lips to his and found that they were warm and inviting. She slowly released her death grip on him and he brought his arms up and wrapped them around her waist.

Ziva moved her legs up straddling him just below his waistline and he felt a surge into his loins.

Their kiss intensified. Her hands were running through his hair as she rocked gently on top of him. She definitely was hungry for something other than food.

Tony found himself enjoying Ziva's brand of fun. He could definitely get used to this and found himself holding her body tightly to his.

And then that is when it hit him. Panic struck Tony like a bolt of lightning. _What was he doing_? He wanted nothing more than to be with her—_but how could he_? He didn't want to ruin the moment, _but something just didn't feel right_.

He hated himself in that moment…this couldn't be happening _now_.

Thoughts raced his mind: How far would they go? Would he hurt the baby? How could he do this with her when it wasn't his baby? Wasn't it breaking some taboo or something? Could he even go through with it, knowing what he knew?

All of a sudden, fear set in and took him down like a ton of bricks and he was almost paralyzed.

Ziva quickly sensed something was off and stopped, "What? What is it?"

He just looked at her; he didn't need to say any words, because his eyes said it all.

Ziva was confused and conflicted, "Why?" she worried aloud.

He just shook his head, closed his eyes, and released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His voice cracked, "I can't."

She quickly rolled off of him and got to the couch where she sat down, clearly she was receiving mixed signals, "I thought…"

He followed sitting next to her, "And so did I, at first, but," he sighed knowing nothing he said would sound right, "it just feels wrong."

"_Wrong_?" Now she _was_ hurt.

"I'm not the father Ziva." He uttered the words before he could take them back.

And they stung…

…because _he wasn't the father_.

And that was a truth Ziva would have to live with.

"But you said '_we_'." Her voice cracked, barely audible.

"We?" He was a bit confused by what she was saying.

"We are having a baby!" she echoed his words from the other day, and finally it registered with him, "You said 'we'!" She was shouting, more hurt than angry.

He swallowed, "I'm here Ziva—for both of you, whatever it takes, but this—I just can't, not yet," it was the only explanation he could give her at that moment.

She just looked at him, cursing at herself for her unfortunate luck. She walled up her emotions, held back her tears, and swallowed her pride. Her face was emotionless when she faked a smile and said, "It is okay Tony, I should not expect any more than you have already given."

Now he felt like a complete and utter jerk. He never meant to hurt her—he really didn't even realize he had a problem with it until—he thought about where they were heading. How was he to know he'd react that way at the last second?

He couldn't have known—but he should have. He placed his hand over hers and said, "We just need to give this some time, move slow."

She smiled sadly looking down at the ground, "Move slow?" Ziva shook her head, "I do not think we could move any slower. Seriously, will we ever be ready, Tony?"

He couldn't answer that. He got up and went into the kitchen to let the tension subside. He returned with a bag of chips and said, "Well, we have no popcorn but we have potato chips."

He stared at the empty couch and then he heard the door to her room shut at the end of the hallway.

He hurled the bag of chips across the room at the tv—and they spilled all over the floor. He didn't care-he left them there and called it a night.

* * *

He retired to the other bedroom but he couldn't sleep. His mind raced on what he could have done differently, what else he could have said, but it always came back to the same thing—and he wished he could somehow get past it. Sleep continued to elude him most of the night.

Before the sun rose, Tony was in and out of the shower. He took a towel to the mirror so he could see himself to shave his five o'clock shadow—but the mirror kept steaming up. He wrapped a towel around his waist and retracted the bathroom door into the wall to help the mirror clear up.

He wiped down the mirror again. And he heard a crunching sound coming from the living room. He looked out into the living room through the mirror, and saw a shadow making its way across the living room floor. As he studied it and realized they had company.

_And just like that it was show time. _

He stepped back slowly, walked towards the toilet, and pulled the gun taped from the back of the tank as quickly as he could. He bumped the lid of the tank and it made a loud noise.

Tony heard footsteps pounding from the living room towards the kitchen. He killed the bathroom lights and followed his visitor.

Whoever it was, chose to make their exit out the front door and this time Tony was right behind them. "FREEZE!" he yelled, but the man kept on going.

"Damn it!" he mutter to himself. He wasn't going to chase the man in a towel.

He took aim and fired, then he watched the man slump to the ground.


	9. Chapter 9

Ziva shot upright in bed. She swallowed hard because she was pretty sure she heard a gunshot. She grabbed her firearm from her side table drawer, took the safety off and made her way down the hallway.

"Tony!" she whispered hard.

There was no answer. She kicked the door to his room open and he wasn't in it. Then she slid the bathroom door open all the way and cleared it. Made her way into the living room and still, there was no sign of Tony.

She made her way to the kitchen and she noticed the front door was open.

Making a quick sweep of the kitchen, she made her way to the front door, and she could see the sun coming up over the horizon and Tony standing over a man's body, taking his pulse.

He looked up and caught her eye, and shook his head.

The man was dead.

Tony made his way back to the doorway.

"We had company this morning," he said referring to the body in the front lawn.

"I will call Orli to come with a team," she answered.

He looked back towards the man, "Do you recognize him?"

She walked outside to take a closer look, "No, I have not seen him before."

Tony asked, "Do we have any gloves?"

Ziva went towards the kitchen sink, and pulled out a pair of cleaning gloves, "Just these."

Tony went out to search the body, and Ziva called Orli.

"Ziva, it's quite early." Orli said on the other end of the phone.

"We've had a visitor," Ziva cut straight to the chase.

"Who?" Orli asked.

"I do not know. Tony shot him. He's dead. We do not recognize him and," Tony walked back in and shook his head again, "he has no identification on him."

"Alright then, we shall be there within the hour. " She hung up.

"Orli has a team on its way, you should get dressed." She nodded towards his towel.

"Did you hear the door chime go off?" he asked her.

"I didn't hear anything Tony, but I don't sleep as lightly as I once used to." She looked at him, "Did you not hear it?"

"I was in the shower, I wouldn't have heard it with the water running."

She nodded, "Would you like me to make you something to eat while you dress?"

He shook his head, "Lost my appetite."

A team showed up and cleared the scene and removed the body. Orli came about an hour later and talked to Tony and Ziva about their accounts of the incident.

"Am I in some kind of trouble here?" Tony asked.

"No, agent DiNozzo, not in the least, at least not with Israeli authorities," she answered.

Tony nodded and Ziva could see the expression of relief spread across his face.

Orli excused herself to take a phone call and then she returned to the room.

"Our intelligence community identified him, came back as Robert Frost, 45, American, living in Israel here alone for about 10 years." she announced.

"That's not his real name," Tony quipped. "Robert Frost is the name of a famous American Poet. I'd say it's not coincidence."

"Yes, I'm familiar with Robert Frost the poet." Orli looked a Tony quizzically.

"Is there any way you can reach Director Vance in MTAC?" he asked.

"Director Vance?" she asked, "Why?"

"Ask him to secure the line in MTAC. He needs to get a hold of Gibbs. I need a pow-wow with him."

"I will need time to arrange it."

"I don't think we have a lot of time." Tony's impatience was showing.

Orli looked at both Tony and Ziva, "Okay both of you, come with me. I'm leaving two of my men here in the house. Let's hope I can reach him and he'll take my call."

They exited through the tunnel—and 3 hours later they were inside the Mossad complex on a secure tele-conference with Gibbs in MTAC.

Tony went into the sealed conference center with Ziva and they stood in front of the screen.

Gibbs came into focus, "Hey'ya boss!" Tony greeted.

"DiNozzo, What's this about?"

"Had an incident here, an American named Robert Frost met the end of my barrel today. We know that is probably not his real name. I'm wondering what the connection is…"

A file was sent to Gibbs and the picture of this man showed up. He looked over to the side, where apparently McGee was sitting and he had them run facial recognition.

"Well?" Tony asked after a few minutes.

"Give us a minute here, DiNozzo."

He turned his attention towards Ziva, "Ziver, how've you been?"

"I'm doing fine, Gibbs, you?" She answered.

"I'd be doing better if you and Tony were back at your desks." He said smiling.

"Well, we both know now that there is little chance of that happening any time soon, at least for me." She answered almost void of emotion.

"You sure you're doing okay, Ziver? Tony's not driving you crazy is he?" he was half joking.

Ziva felt the need to keep her guard up, "I am fine, really. Tony most probably saved my life this morning, I can deal with him just fine."

Gibbs sensed something was up—but he wasn't sure what. He was handed a piece of paper, and said to Tony "Your dead body isn't really Robert Frost. His name is John Crown. He's an undercover agent for the CIA."

"I knew it." Tony rolled his eyes, "Alright, next question, why choose the name Robert Frost—what's the connection?"

Gibbs was handed another piece of paper, "_The only certain freedom is in departure._" He read to them.

"That is a Frost quote?" Tony asked.

"I do not get it Gibbs," Ziva interrupted.

"Ziva," he nodded, "he's a messenger. He's telling you you're not safe where you are."

Ziva opened her mouth to speak, but words failed her.

"Our safe house is not safe." DiNozzo added, looking at her—but she did not look back towards him.

"You need a better place to hide and a deeper cover." Gibbs agreed.

"Thanks Boss." Tony added.

"Hey DiNozzo," Gibbs asked,

"Yes Boss?"

"I need a word with you," he nodded his head towards Ziva, "alone."

Tony looked at Ziva and Ziva huffed in protest, but left the room as requested. Once she was out of the room, Tony, nodded, "What's up boss?"

"How you two holding up?" Gibbs asked.

"Holding our own, I guess, why?" Tony furrowed his brow.

Gibbs filled him in, "A lot of questions are being asked at all levels on your where abouts. Certain agencies have a working theory on where you've gone."

"And?" Tony knew where this was going but wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.

"If things aren't working out there, you might want to come home. It might be too late to change your mind soon."

Tony gritted his teeth, "I'm fine. Things are fine." It wasn't exactly the truth, but he'd work them out somehow, "I'm here for her boss, and until this is over, I'm not going anywhere."

"DiNozzo, this might not be over for a long time, and once they've finally put two and two together, Ziva won't be the only one they will want to take care of."

Tony didn't need to say anything—he just gave Gibbs a look that said, _I know_.

"You two be careful. I don't want to read about you in the newspapers."

"Not if I can help it."

The line was cut and Tony left the room and joined Ziva.

"What was that about?" Ziva asked.

He didn't want Ziva to worry about it, "Just tying up loose ends back home," he fibbed with a smile. "Listen, we need to talk to Orli," Tony insisted.

"Yes, we do." Ziva agreed.

Ziva led them down the long haul back to Orli's office.


	10. Chapter 10

They'd been given the rest of the day to pack their things and be ready to leave for an unknown destination the next morning. It didn't take either Tony or Ziva long to pack, and Tony decided he'd cook them some dinner as neither of them had eaten all day.

Ziva walked into the kitchen, "Tony, I think we should talk," her tone was all business.

"If it is about last night—" he knew they needed to talk about it—but he still had no clue what to say.

"No. This is about tomorrow," she said flatly.

That got Tony's attention, "Do you know where Orli is sending us?"

"No, I do not, but I think it would be best if tomorrow we went our separate ways. I am most certain Orli would honor that request." Her tone remained serious.

Tony was half offended, "Our separate ways? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I think it would be best—"

"_You_ think it would be best?" He raised his voice, "Well, what about what I think, Ziva? What about us being partners—you know on the same team? And what about us working things out and taking things slow?" He stood there infuriated at the thought.

"I am worried about my safety!" she yelled.

"Bullshit." He called her on it right there, "You're hurt about last night. And I get it—but just because you're hurt doesn't mean you get to give up on _us_."

"It has nothing to do with _us_."

"It has everything to do with us and you know it, Ziva! Would you be singing this same tune if we'd gone through with things last night?"

She didn't answer, but the look on her face gave it away.

He stared back, "I didn't think so."

"I am going for a walk, I need to clear my head," she announced hastily, heading for the back door.

He watched her walk out into the olive grove and kept his eye on her as he went back and forth between the kitchen and the living room. A half hour later, he'd finished cooking and headed outside to catch up with her.

He'd seen her sitting beneath one of the trees looking towards the west horizon. Ziva turned her head when she heard Tony approaching.

"I imagine you have to be starving by now. Any way I could talk you into coming in and eating?" He reached out his hand and helped her to her feet.

She gave him a small smile, although at times he could infuriate her, she could never stay mad at him for very long, "Tony, I'm s-sorry. I know you've given up a lot to come here and ensure my safety and I don't mean to seem ungrateful."

"But-" he sensed there was more.

"But are you sure this is where you want to be? I don't want you to have regrets about this one day."

"Hey, I'm all in—no regrets from me. You need to trust me on this one. I don't think I could be out there living with myself if I thought you were in danger."

She searched his eyes, and she knew he was telling her the truth. She smiled feeling a bit more assured about things, "That is because you are a good man Tony."

"That's because the people around me help me be a better person," he smiled back. "So do you have any regrets?"

"A few," she answered unable to look him in the eye, "but they do not concern you-just some of the choices I made."

He stood there hoping she'd open up about them, but she never said anything further.

After a few moments he asked her, "So you ready to eat?"

"Not yet," she answered, finally looking him in the eyes, "May I show you something?"

"Sure," he said wondering what she was up to.

She led him by the hand to the back side of the olive grove. The field cleared out and they stood up on a cliff which over looked a sea off in the distance. Then she explained, "My mother stayed here during the summers, after my parents divorced. My sister Tali and I were usually with my Mom but sometimes we were with my dad. I didn't handle their break up so well. I became quite angry with both of them, always making it difficult for which ever one I was staying with.

"One day while staying here, I had taken my anger out on my Mother once again. I guess I figured that if she had tried she could have hung on to my father. I realize now, I was wrong there. Anyway, Tali and I were starving and my mother had not cooked us dinner. I went out to find her—and she was picking olives. I walked up to her and I started yelling at her." Ziva paused, her emotions were over taking her, "and although I had been yelling at her a lot back then—this was different. I had said some things that I could never take back.

"After I had said these terrible things to her, I stormed back to the house and decided I would cook Tali and I dinner, but I didn't know what I was doing and I burned everything to a crisp. I not only ruined dinner but also a few good pots and pans.

"As the sun started to set, my mother still had not returned. And I thought that perhaps she wasn't coming back because of me. So I went out to find her—and when I got here to this spot—she was watching the most magnificent sun set. The sky was full of beautiful colors that evening.

"When I'd reached her, I told her I tried to cook, but had burnt our dinner. I was still quite upset…but she never once raised her voice with me. She just said, 'Ziva, I understand your anger—but you must learn to let it go at the end of each day when the sun sets and start over again the next day. It isn't good to hold so much anger inside, because before too long it will alter you. Promise me you'll learn to let it go at the end of each day.' Feeling guilty for my behavior and for ruining dinner, I made her that promise."

Tony thought it was a great story but the expression on his face gave away the fact he had no idea what her point was.

She continued, "It is a promise I try to keep each day, but one I fail miserably at more often than not. I find myself in this mess now, because when Bodner killed my father and Jackie Vance, I did not let go of my anger at the end of the day."

"Ziva, you had a right to be angry-"

She shook her head, "I know—but I held on to it too long. My mother was right. Likewise, last night when I went to bed, I was upset with you, and once again I did not let it go. And so I continued to be angry with you into today. My mother was a wise person, Tony. I wish I could find a way to keep that promise to her each day-but I struggle with it."

Tony squeezed her hand, "I feel like a jerk—"

"No, please, you shouldn't," she shook her head, "I should have been more understanding."

"So does this mean you and I will not be going our separate ways in the morning?" He'd hoped she'd changed her mind.

She shook her head, "No. We should stick together."

Tony gave a sigh of relief, "I was really worried there for a minute, Ziva."

She placed her hands on either side of Tony's face, "_Don't worry Tony, we will be okay_."

She searched his eyes and his lips and she leaned in and kissed him. He kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her.

After a few moments, "Hey dinner's probably getting cold," Tony reminded her gently.

"Please go, I'll be there in a few minutes…I'd like to stay here and watch the sunset. I always feel close to my Mom when I am here and I don't know if I'll be able to come back anytime soon. I'll be along in a few minutes," she assured him.

Tony smiled, "Okay I'll go heat things up for us and see you in a few?"

She nodded and sat on a nearby rock.

Tony jogged back up to the house, but when he got within sight of it, he could see there were several men surrounding the house, all in plain dark clothing, and he could only surmise they were CIA.

He stood just inside the tree line observing them, they all had weapons and they hurled tear gas inside the back door. Tony knew they meant business, so he turned and sprinted back toward Ziva. He went as quickly and as quietly as he could but she still heard him approach.

When she turned and saw his face she became very alarmed and stood to her feet, "Tony? What is it?"

"_Somalia_," He had to catch his breath, "We have trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Four maybe five men, surrounding the house, weapons drawn, sent in the tear gas," he added

"We've already been compromised?"

"Yes." He added, "Ziva, we have no weapons out here, everything is inside the house, and we can't get to the tunnel."

"Then we should wait here, they won't come this far to look for us."

"And if they do?" He said thinking tactically, looking towards the cliff. "Is there anyway to go down this thing on foot?"

"No, not without equipment," she answered, "and that has never been attempted."

"I have a plan, but you may not like it." He added, "It will get you and the baby to safety."

She noticed he did not say 'we' this time, "How?"

He explained his plan in full and while Ziva believed it was a plan that would work, she didn't like what it meant for Tony.

"I do not like this plan Tony," she protested, "it means that something could happen to you."

"I won't let it," he said trying to reassure her.

"You cannot guarantee that," she quipped, "Besides Tony, what if something does happen? I would not forgive myself."

"The most important thing is for you to get to safety. I don't want anything to happen to you or the baby. It is the best way at this point, Ziva." His breathing was a bit rapid but adrenaline was rushing through his veins.

"I still do not like this plan, too much can go wrong," she continued to argue.

"I don't see another way Ziva," Tony reasoned, "Even if we stay out here all night, they'll be looking for us in the morning and in the day light we are totally exposed. Once I distract them, just slip in the back door and go straight for the tunnel. Lock yourself in down there. When you see Orli tell her to send me back up. I can stall them that long."

"And what if you can't? What if Orli can't send in reinforcements? What if she gets here too late?"

"Right now, they're not after me, they're after you. You are the one we have to get to safety. Do you understand?"

Ziva didn't understand the full extent of what Tony was proposing, but she realized he at least had a plan, she insisted on the bad feeling she had about it all. "I don't like this Tony."

"Do you have a better plan?"

She didn't, "Tony, I'm sorry about earlier."

"It is all good, right?" He tried to reassure her, but his voice was emotional. "This is why I am here, and I wouldn't do this for just anyone Ziva. Only for you."

She smiled, tears stinging the corners of her eyes and she nodded.

He continued, adrenaline rushing through his veins full throttle, "Just follow me and stay behind the tree line until you know that all the men have moved towards the front of the house, then sneak in and head straight for the tunnel. Remember to use your Ninja feet, okay?"

He took her by the hand and turned to go back towards the house, "Wait!" she pulled back on his arm, stopping him in his tracks and turning him back her direction, "Tony?" she said unsure.

He turned and saw the fear and worry in her eyes and he wanted to take it all away and give her every ounce of happiness she deserved. He loved her and there was no denying that. He pulled her in and kissed her lips, pressing his body to hers and holding her close for a few minutes as the sun finally dipped below the horizon.

Tony raised his eye brows and gave his best John Wayne impersonating voice, "_Come on Darlin'. It's show time_."


	11. Chapter 11

Tony needed to distract their visitors, so he ran to the back side of the house—and made some commotion just outside the door. The distraction sent the men running towards the back door as Tony slipped around the side of the house and into the front door. He let himself into the kitchen. He made his way to the sink, and grabbed the gun he planted in the drawer just beside it, carefully tucking it in under his shirt and behind his back.

Then he acted as if nothing happened, turned on the stove and started to stir the pasta he had in the pot. One of the men told him not to move and to put his hands up real slow.

Tony complied and turned around slowly, "Look, I don't know who you are and I don't care, but I'm a United States federal agent with Naval Criminal Investigative Service and judging by your accent you're not Israeli. So, why don't you start with telling me who the hell you are and why the hell you're here."

The guy looked at Tony and called one of the other guys in the room, "Says he's with NCIS."

"So is our target," the other man reminded him.

"Target? Whoa, wait a minute, you all have a target on one of our NCIS agents?" Tony asked as if he was unaware. "Which agent and why?"

"You know which one," a third one entered the kitchen, "don't play stupid."

"Oh I get it, you all must be CIA," Tony acted as if he was just catching on, "Well, fellas, news for you. I'm the only NCIS agent here. I'm guessing the agent you're looking for is locked up tight for the night at the Mossad compound with some chic named Orli something-or-other. I guess if you want her, you'll just have to go ask to see her there."

A fourth agent walked in, "The place is clean, she's not here."

"What did I tell you?" Tony said in a smart ass attitude.

"What do we do about him?" The first one asked.

The second one replied aiming his gun at Tony's head, "I guess we can't have any witnesses."

"Wait! You can't kill me, I'm a federal agent and I haven't done anything wrong. You want to arrest me on some trumped up bogus charges? Fine, I can deal with that—but you don't want to deal with the aftermath of killing me."

They all seemed to laugh at him and one of them decided to bite, "Why is that?"

"Because not only will Leroy Jethro Gibbs make your life a living hell, you are forgetting one piece of the puzzle. I'm here as a guest to that Mossad lady—you know I'm the decoy, to make you think someone else was staying here. And so they're expecting you—actually they know you're here. And you know what a mess it is when you kill on foreign soil. It is an incident not likely to go away anytime soon…because you idiots from the CIA don't know how to keep on the down low. So I guess killing me isn't really an option, now is it?" Tony knew it was bullshit but he was hoping they'd buy it long enough to come up with plan B.

They didn't, they all started laughing and Tony was laughing right along with them, except that unnerved the men and one of them pointed the gun from across the room and shot at him.

Tony predicted what that guy was going to do and fell to the floor just in time. He fired two shots taking two of them out. The other two took cover and Tony had the task of deciding which one would be number three, and he wasn't really sure which way he'd go. There was one on the other side of the kitchen island from him and another around the corner half way in the living room.

Tony got to his feet and said, "Come on fellas, I guess none of us are playing games here, so why don't you come on out and let's work through this?

He saw a glimmer out of the corner of his eye and he fired at the guy halfway in the living room, taking him down. That left him with the guy on the other side of the island.

"Look dumbass, I'm willing to spare your life," Tony shouted, "You just have to play nice."

The guy peered his head around and took a shot, missing Tony, but hitting the pot of pasta.

"Damn it!" Tony yelled, "that was going to be dinner—fine Italian dinner too, I might add. Come on, stand up, I promise not to kill you."

They guy kicked his weapon out and stood up, putting his hands up. Tony told him to turn and march out the front door. He had every intention of marching his ass right down the driveway.

As they made it out of the house, Tony yelled really loud, "House is clear, Ziva! GO!" hoping she'd hear him.

Problem was the driveway was dark, and steep, and rocky. About 200 yards down the driveway, the man tripped and fell on his knees cursing. Tony noticed he wasn't getting up immediately and he grabbed the guy by the shoulder to help him to his feet, but the guy was acting funny. Tony still had the gun to his back and yelled, "Come on! What is with you?"

Just then the man pulled a knife, turned slightly, then stabbed Tony in the gut. Tony immediately fired his weapon and the man rolled on down the driveway about 6 more feet. Tony stumbled for a minute, took his hand, pressed it around the knife and on the count of three he pulled the knife out, praying he wasn't pulling any organs with it.

He decided he needed to make it back to the house to meet up with Ziva but he was losing blood fast and he was feeling a bit light headed. The damn driveway was uphill and it made those 200 yards back to the house seem like 200 miles.

Ziva was never a very patient person, but she waited beyond the tree line for what seemed like an eternity. All she could do was say prayers in Hebrew for Tony's safety. She had lost everyone that ever really mattered to her in her life and she didn't want Tony to be one of them.

She watched as Tony disturbed some olive buckets on the back side of the house then made his way around to the front. She had no idea what he was doing but apparently he had their attention. She waited to make her move.

She cringed when she heard the gunfire in the house. She kept praying it wasn't Tony getting hit; then after a few minutes, she thought she heard Tony scream,"Go!" and she made a run for it.

Ziva reached the back door; once she seen there was no one inside the living room, she rushed to the closet door, and opened up the floor board into the tunnel.

She took the first two steps descending into the tunnel, when she was hit from behind causing her to fall down the steps. She turned her head and looked up the stairs and saw a man standing there, with a flashlight, coming at her.

Ziva's sense of fight kicked in. She stayed on her back facing him until he got to the bottom step, then she kicked his legs out from under him and he sailed to the ground dropping his flashlight.

Ziva got to her feet quickly, ready to take down this man come hell or high water. She went into hand to hand combat with him, feeling she had the advantage, since she knew her surroundings. Unfortunately, she just had not anticipated a highly trained martial arts master as her adversary.

For the most part, she kept this man on the ground, but just when she thought she'd had him at a disadvantage, he would find a way to knock her off her guard.

He'd made several blows to her arms, her face and her back. He even managed to kick the back side of her knee pretty hard, to the point she wasn't sure she could stand on it…but Ziva fought through the pain.

He was definitely out to kill her and this heightened Ziva's sense of awareness.

Finally, she had pinned the bastard to the ground and was stepping on his throat, "What do you want?" she spat at him.

He just looked at her, gasping for breath, "Tell me or I finish you here and now!" she yelled again.

His hand came up swiftly and stabbed her in the ankle with a knife he'd pulled from his pocket.

Ziva screamed in pain and he took advantage of the situation, getting to his feet and ramming her body up against a wall. The maneuver knocked the wind out of Ziva, coupled with the pain of the knife stuck in her ankle bone she was having a hard time keeping her composure.

He turned 180 degrees to hit her with a punching move, but she ducked just in time and his fist rammed into the concrete wall full force. Ziva could hear the man's bones breaking on impact. She kneed him in the groin then she used her good foot to kick him in the knee…her goal was to break it.

The man sank to the ground in pain, and Ziva took a moment to catch her breath. "One more time, who are you and what is it that you want?"

He didn't answer—he just sat agonizing for a moment. Then a primal sound roared from his lungs and with all his strength he flipped up to his feet, swung his foot around and kicked Ziva in the stomach so hard, she flew into the wall, knocking the wind out of her for a second time, and hitting her head to the point she blacked out. Ziva's body sank to the ground, nearly lifeless.

She tried to keep her eyes open, but she was barely conscious.

The last thing she remembered she heard a gun cock somewhere near her head, she knew it was the end. The last thing she thought—the last person who came to her mind—the last word she uttered was, "_Tony_."


	12. Chapter 12

Ziva slowly opened her eyes. Everything seemed bright and nothing wanted to come into focus. She shut her eyes, she could hear the sounds of feet shuffling and monitors beeping. She thought she heard someone say her name, but she wasn't really sure. She tried to open her eyes again, and someone was staring at her with some sort of light.

She shut her eyes tightly, that light was giving her a headache, "Ziva David!" she heard someone shout, "Squeeze my hand if you can understand me."

She had no idea which hand they were holding, she didn't care. She tried to squeeze them both, and realized after a few minutes they'd had her left hand.

She opened her eyes again, the lights felt like they were burning her retinas. She made out a figure but it wasn't anyone she recognized. She wanted to throw up.

She tried to speak, "Where am I?" but her voice was weak and hoarse.

"You're in Mossad headquarters, in our medical ward."

She closed her eyes. She wasn't even really sure where they said she was—and she didn't care.

She tried to remember anything about how she got there…and all she could remember was kissing Tony and waiting in the dark and… hearing gunshots.

Then she remembered the fight. She had fought someone. She remembered it was in the tunnel.

Then she heard someone say, "She needs more time to sleep off that medication. It may take awhile." And Ziva prayed that everyone around her would leave her alone to her thoughts, but apparently they felt it necessary to stay and do their jobs.

Sometime later, she opened her eyes again and a nurse was standing nearby, switching an IV bag, "Where's Tony?" she asked.

"Just rest Ma'am." She answered. "You need time to heal."

Ziva just nodded her head and it wasn't until another nurse had come in and pushed down on Ziva's belly that she had her first sense something was off.

"What are you doing?" she asked the woman.

The lady didn't answer at first; she just smiled sadly, and continued to knead her stomach.

"I asked you what you are doing?" Ziva's face was a bit shakey.

"I'm sorry, really I am. The doctor's on her way now to talk to you."

Ziva was still confused. She didn't understand what that woman was doing. She did sense something wasn't right—but she had no idea what that could be through her medically induced fog.

The nurses sat Ziva up in bed, although Ziva tried to protest their efforts. Her head was throbbing, she was still quite confused. A few minutes later a female doctor entered the room and all the nurses left, but one.

"Hi Ziva, My name is Doctor Almed. I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances. How are you feeling?"

Ziva shook her head, "I'm confused." She said meekly.

"The medicine will do that to you and of course, you've suffered quite a bit of trauma," the doctor explained. "We had to operate to remove the knife embedded in your ankle and we have been especially worried about that concussion, but I'm glad to see you're awake now…that is a good sign."

Ziva looked at her confused, "I think I was in a fight."

"You were, and you're lucky to be alive."

Ziva looked at her and then she realized in horror, "My baby?" tears immediately flooded her face, "what about my baby?"

"I am really sorry, but by the time you got here to the complex you were hemorrhaging out pretty bad. Unfortunately, your baby did not make it. You should recover completely."

_How do I recover from losing my baby?_ Ziva thought to herself as she leaned back on her pillow, "I'd like to be alone now."

"Okay, but first I have a few things to go over," the doctor said as gently as she could.

Ziva looked at her, "Right now," she swallowed, the brewing anger in her voice increasing with each word, "I'd like to be _alone_. My head _hurts_, I don't remember much of anything, and I need some space. Could you please come back at some other time to go over these _things_?"

"Yes of course," the doctor said, "I'll be back on my next round."

Ziva waited until the doctor and the nurse left the room, then she curled up into a ball and cried for the baby she lost. The one she never met—the one who never had a chance.

A few hours later, Ziva felt she had a better grasp on reality. She paged the nurse to bring her something to drink and when they did she asked for the doctor to return.

The doctor returned and once again offered Ziva her condolences. Ziva held herself together emotionally and the doctor went over the extent of her injuries. It wasn't anything she wouldn't physically heal from, but she might be facing surgery on her knee.

Then Ziva asked her about Tony, and the doctor pretended not to know anything, and Ziva could sense she was lying. The doctor told her Orli would be by to talk to her shortly.

It seemed as if hours had passed, and Orli finally did pay a visit to Ziva.

"Ahhh! You're awake." Orli said walking in, trying to hold a smile on her face.

"I've woken to a hell." Ziva said flatly.

"You almost died in one too," she reminded her.

Ziva wasn't used to a female figure who could counter her so quickly.

"I need to know about Tony," Ziva asked preparing herself for the worst.

"He's alive," she told her, "he had a nasty stab wound and they had to go in and sew up an organ or two. But he'll live."

"Where is he?" she said quite relieved.

"Down the hall in our makeshift OR."

Ziva realized that he was probably still in danger, "Does the CIA know he's still alive?"

"They haven't been given an official report, it will depend on what he wants to do with his life. Anthony DiNozzo is just as wanted by the CIA now as you are."

"Wanted?" she asked almost angry at the accusation.

"He has 72 hours before he will have to decide." She explained, "But even if he wakes up he may decide not to wake up officially."

Ziva caught her drift, 'What about my status?" she asked.

"You're officially dead." Orli announced without any thought to how that might affect Ziva emotionally, "I'm currently putting together a new identity for you and weaving your name through the books of history, so to speak."

Ziva stared at Orli blankly. "Who knows I'm dead?"

"Everyone now. The news agencies were notified immediately, I made personal calls to Schmeil Pinkus, Adam Eschel, Director Vance, and your friend Monique Lisson. Is there anyone else you'd like me to notify?"

She shook her head. Just like that Ziva David was no longer a mother to be. She was no longer even Ziva David. In a sense she felt safe, in another sense she felt imprisoned, mostly she felt isolated. Orli stood to leave, and Ziva asked her, "When can I see Tony?"

Orli smiled, "Ziva you've been through hell…he has been through hell. Why don't you rest and let's pick this up sometime tomorrow.."

"Orli, please."

"I need a chance for him to wake up post op and give him his options. It is a big decision to walk away from the life you've always known." Orli smirked at the irony knowing Ziva wasn't even given a choice. Then she turned and left the room.

And just like that, Ziva was utterly and completely alone.


	13. Chapter 13

Tony woke up from surgery, foggy, but one small move reminded him of why he was there. That pain searing through his gut told him almost all he needed to know. _Almost._

He was told to drink some stuff-to help get him out of that medical fog and as soon as the nurse returned Tony asked if Ziva was ok. The nurse avoided his question, which he should have expected, but he wasn't going to settle for not getting answers.

After 25 minutes, he was wheeled from the recovery room into a makeshift hospital room. He had no idea where Ziva was or even if she was alright—the last thing he remembered was shooting some bastard that was getting ready to shoot Ziva. He had shot four CIA agents dead, but he didn't realize there had been a fifth one. After he killed that bastard, he remembered finding Ziva barely conscious and seeing blood everywhere. After that he drew a blank.

The nurses situated him in his room and told him they'd be back to check on him, and Tony needed a distraction. He found the buttons on his bed that controlled the television and found a news station in English. Moving images always seemed to help.

It wasn't even on two minutes when they reported the death of Ziva David. Tony watched in disbelief and then his heart sank as they flashed her picture on screen, said she'd been stabbed and shot, and died later that evening in the hospital of complications.

As they flashed another picture on the screen and reported on the next tragic news event of the day, Tony found himself unable to breath. He needed answers. He wanted to know who and how and why. He thought, _No, Not Ziva! This can't be happening!_ The one task he came to do—which was keeping her safe, he had failed at and he couldn't live with it. He screamed "_ZIVA!_" at the tops of his lungs and rolled into heap on the bed, pounding his fists into the pillow. She had trusted him—with her life—and she lost her life because of him. He would never forgive himself.

His scream alerted the nurses who came running, and he told all of them to get the hell out of his room, but apparently one of them had a hard time understanding English because he could see through his tears she was still standing there. He looked from the floor up to her face, and realized it wasn't a nurse, but Orli.

"What do you want?" he seethed.

"Agent DiNozzo, what has you so upset?"

"Ziva's dead." He answered sharply.

"Who told you that?" she asked.

"No one. I saw the news." He nodded towards the television.

She rolled her eyes, "Agent DiNozzo, I need to ask you some very tough questions."

He just glared at her. He had the questions, not the answers.

"You took down 5 CIA agents last night…which means your CIA isn't all too happy with you at the moment. Given the choice—do you want to go back home and possibly face the wrath of those charges?"

He looked at her incredulously. Apparently there was no sympathy for a guy who had just been stabbed and lost the love of his life.

"Or would you like for Anthony DiNozzo Jr to die, and you go on living a life with a new name, in some obscure place—away from all the danger and excitement a life like yours leads?"

"What kind of question is that?" he asked.

She had little patience but she tried again, "The way I see it, you can go back to your life in DC—and face charges for killing CIA agents _or_ we can report you dead and find you a new identity. The choice is totally yours." She gave him a look.

"Is this one of those wink, wink, nudge, nudge, silent language thingies, because I am not very good at those and I've just been through hell and back and honestly, I am not really sure what you're saying," he was fishing for more information.

"Agent DiNozzo, I am the Director of Moussad—if a new life is what you want—then I think I can help you with that."

"Let me ask you a question, have you helped others with that? Have you helped Ziva?"

"Perhaps." She answered

"Where is she?" he asked calmly, indicating he caught her drift, "I just want to see her."

"Agent DiNozzo, Ziva David, is all but dead, but the woman you love is not. I just need to know what to tell your family and those back at NCIS."

"I don't care what you tell them. Say I'm dead, say I've gone missing, say whatever makes you happy. I just want to see Ziva." His patience was wearing thin.

"So I shall report you as a casualty. I'll need to collect DNA, of course. And I'll work on creating you a new identity. These things take time, but it will be arranged." She turned and left the room.

"Hey, wait a minute, I want to see Ziva!" he yelled after her—but he was all but ignored.

Tony wasn't satisfied. He sat up in his bed, planted his feet on the floor. He ripped out his IV's and he somehow got to his feet without falling over. He was a bit woozy at first, but if Ziva was in that complex, he was going to find her. He took 10 steps towards the door and thought maybe it was a bad idea—but he swallowed hard and took a few more and made it to the doorway.

He looked both ways down the hall—and saw nothing but doors—she could be behind anyone of them—but then he caught a glimpse of Orli slipping inside the door at the end of the hall. He figured that must be Ziva's room.

He started slowly, hanging onto the wall as he made his way down the corridor. A couple of nurses tried to stop him, but he used his hand to push them away. "I have to do this." He argued.

They thought he was mad.

The commotion didn't go unreported and he was almost to Ziva's door when Orli walked back out.

"Very noble of you, Agent DiNozzo, but if you had only waited a few more minutes I would have brought this to you to make it easier," She pulled the wheel chair out of the doorway—which wasn't a doorway to Ziva's room, but to a storage closet. "Please, have a seat; I will take you to her."

"Now you tell me," he quipped as he sat down in the chair.

"Prepare yourself, Agent DiNozzo," she warned, as she wheeled him down the other direction to Ziva's room.


	14. Chapter 14

Tony hated that he couldn't ever get a read on Orli—he could never figure out if she was really on their side or not. But when she said, "Prepare yourself," she wasn't kidding.

It took his breath away when he saw Ziva—she looked small, heavily bruised, face slightly swollen, and too pale. It broke his heart to see her so beaten. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to be the decoy-the destractor-they one who took the beating so she could get to the tunnel safely-and she was looking worse than he felt.

Orli wheeled him next to Ziva bed, put on the brake to the wheel chair and slipped out of the room.

Tony reached over and took Ziva's hand, almost afraid to hold it as if she would break, and his touch caused Ziva to open her eyes.

"Tony?" she didn't quite believe who she was seeing, "You came?"

"_For you_," he answered, his eyes full of emotion.

She gave him a weak smile, and then she looked away, trying to blink back her tears.

"I can't believe they did this to you." He said trying to reach her face to wipe her tears, but because of the chair's position, he couldn't quite get there.

"I will survive," Ziva wanted to put on a strong face but had a hard time believing her own words.

It obviously upset him seeing her in such rough shape, "If I had known there was a fifth person in that house, I wouldn't have yelled for you to run."

She nodded with forgiving eyes, "You couldn't have known. Do not blame yourself."

He sensed there was something she wasn't telling him, "What Ziva? What is it?"

"Tony," she sighed, "I-I lost the baby." Tears streamed down her face despite her efforts to hold them back.

He looked up, he didn't even think to ask her. Now, he felt even worse. His voice cracked, "Oh God, Ziva—" He wanted to pull her in and hug her but he couldn't get to her from his chair.

"I know the baby was unplanned, and I know that it was – _messy_—but it was still a part of me, and –and –" she no longer tried to hold back her tears.

He made it to his feet, lowered the side of her hospital bed and despite the pain from his recent surgery, he sat on the bed next to her and pulled her in. "This is my fault. I failed to protect you and the baby. It was the one thing I had every intention of doing. I am really sorry," he said kissing the side of her head, the guilt of the situation sinking in.

She clung to him as she mourned the passing of her child and the passing of her life as she knew it. When she had enough of the tears, she looked up and peered into his misty eyes, "Tony, this was not your fault. We could not have known they would have found us so quickly."

"We should have stayed in the olive grove." He argued.

"They would have found us come day light, perhaps met a worse fate." she placed her hand on the side of his face, directing his eyes towards hers, "We both made it out alive." For this she was grateful.

He nodded his head, "So now what do we do?"

"I will no longer be able to resume my life as I knew it, but even if they hadn't found us—my life was never going to be the same." Ziva said, accepting her fate, "But Tony—you can still go back. "

It took a moment for her words to sink in, "Go back?" he asked her—all he could think was, _what was she thinking_?

"Yes to your life, Tony. Back to DC. To NCIS, To the team." She searched his eyes, "Orli will work to get any charges against you dropped, I will make sure of it."

"Ziva, I don't want to go back. I don't want to go anywhere if you're not there. I didn't come to Israel just to protect you. _I came here for you_. This wasn't Gibbs nodding his head at me to go make sure you were okay—I knew when I left town I may never be returning."

"I can't ask you to do that for me," she said resolutely.

He didn't know where this was coming from, and he looked her square in the eyes, "Ziva, you don't have to ask—this is what I want. Please, tell me you don't want me to leave and go back to a life without you—because if you do—then I don't think I could live with that."

Ziva didn't answer right away—but held his gaze. "I am just saying," she chose her words very carefully, "that you have a choice."

There was no hesitation on Tony's part, "Then I choose you, Ziva David. For me there is no other choice."

Ziva was surprised by his resolve where she was concerned. She wanted to cry again—but not for her loss-rather for what she had. She nestled her head into his shoulder and looked down to his stomach, "Tony, you're bleeding."

He looked down, "Yeah, I might have popped a stitch or two."

"Tony, that is not just a stitch or two," she leaned over and hit the nurse's call button.

"It'll be fine."

"Yes, once they stitch you up again," She was a bit alarmed by the amount of blood seeping through his hospital gown.

The nurses came in and then grabbed necessary supplies. Tony laid there while they sewed him up once again. Once the nurses had left, they both laid on the hospital bed—and Ziva was careful on how she leaned into Tony- and he was careful not to get too close to her ankle and knee.

They laid there side by side—holding hands and just when Ziva thought Tony might be asleep, he spoke up, "You still haven't weighed in on how you feel about all this."

"I just don't want you to have regrets…there is no going back," she answered.

It didn't answer his question,"Okay—but how do you _feel_?"

"Unlike you, I was not given a choice," she said looking down at their entwined hands—"My life as Ziva David is no more. I will be gaining a new identity and trying to move on from the only life, I have ever known. However, if I did have a choice—if I could choose, then I would choose a life with you, Tony DiNozzo." She squeezed his hand and looked at him, "I do not deserve you, but yet here you are." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled through the pain.

"God you're beautiful," he kissed the side of her head and then whispered, "I love you, Ziva," softly into her ear.

Ziva smiled and thought to herself, she just might get a happy ending after all.

They remained laying side by side—just holding hands, not saying anything for the longest time. Then Tony mentioned out of the blue, "You know, it won't be the wedding of your dreams—because no one we know will be there," he looked down at her out of the corner of his eyes. "but I'd still would want the day to be all you ever hoped it would be...considering..."

Her head popped up, "Marriage? Tony?"

"You didn't think I'd come this far and not ask you, did you?" His green eyes glistened louder than his smile.

As hurt, sore, beat up, torn apart, and empty as the previous day's events left her, Ziva was still a woman very much in love with the goof ball lying next to her. Normally she would have thought it was too much too soon—but things were going to change fast and it wasn't like she could wait another 8 years. "You are asking me to marry you?" Her eyebrows popped up in surprise.

"I mean think about it, we make quite the pair, with our stitches and bruises, and the fact that we're both in so much pain we can hardly stand it. We are soul mates at our finest right here." he half joked. "Besides it beats the alternative."

_Soulmates_. He'd just admitted they were soulmates. Ziva smiled to herself, slightly amused, "What alternative is that?"

"The one where we don't end up together. I mean, seriously, it would just be the worst."

She gave it some thought, "Yes," she agreed, "It would be the worst."

He realized for the first time she didn't give him any real argument, "So is that a yes?" His voice was hopeful.

She looked at him, her face tired, bruised, and pale. Her body in unbearable pain—but somehow it just felt right, "It is a yes." She smiled sleepily.

He relaxed a bit, "Thank God because I don't think I could have gotten out of this bed to go sulk in my room if you had said no."

She squeezed his hand not once, but twice and rested her head next to his shoulder, then they both closed their eyes and fell asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Director Vance had told Gibbs of Ziva's death only two days ago, when he called him into his office. When Gibbs asked, he was told the whereabouts of Tony DiNozzo were unknown.

Gibbs had not taken the first sip of coffee that McGee just handed him when Director Vance called down to summons Gibbs again. This time when he got to his office he was told that the body of Agent DiNozzo had been recovered by Israeli authorities.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked.

"Stabbed to death, presumably by our own Central Inteliigence Agency."

"What are they saying?" Gibbs asked.

"Denying anything ever happened over there, of course." Leon answered.

Gibbs was almost speechless. "When they shipping him back?"

"There is an unusual request from Orli on that one. Did you know that Agent DiNozzo and Agent David were an item?"

"Ah, come on Leon, you'd have to be blind not to see those two were close." Gibbs shook his head, "Doesn't really surprise me."

"Did you know Agent David was pregnant?"

"Ziver? Pregnant?" Now, that surprised Gibbs. "Would explain why he felt the need to go to Israel to protect her."

Vance pushed a button and his office went into sciff mode. He pointed the remote towards the television screen in his office and pulled up two photos. Side by side, were autopsy photos of Agents DiNozzo and David. "Orli sent these over earlier. I had Ducky sit down with me here a few hours ago and we reviewed all the photographs. As far as we can tell they're not doctored in anyway."

Gibbs studied each photos. Both agents appeared to have died from heavy physical trauma. But it was almost too convenient. He asked, "Did you have Abby look the files over?"

"Gibbs," Vance 's concern was eminent, "She was close to them, I couldn't do that to her."

He thought it over. "Good intentions Leon and I get why you did it, but."

"But what? You don't believe they're really dead."

"We need to have someone go over the files make sure they weren't doctored."

Vance nodded, "I see your point. But what is more interesting is that Orli would like to get Tony's next of kin's permission to have him cremated and buried with Ziva. She reports the two were very close, very much in love. She thinks they would have wanted this."

Sadness overcame Gibbs, "We need Abby on this ASAP… I can't possibly call Senior until I know for sure."

"Okay Gibbs. If you think she could handle this?" Vance asked.

"She's good at what she does. I'm not saying it won't be difficult, I'm saying it has to be done."

"Okay we'll do this your way," he answered.

Gibbs waited most of the day in the office when Abby finally called him down to the lab.

"Abby?" he said walking in.

Abby's eyes were swollen and red, "Gibbs?" she choked up.

"Hey, what'd you find?"

"I have torn these files apart, layer by layer Gibbs," she just shook her head.

He studied her, "Are you sure Abs?"

She didn't want it to be true—but she'd gone over ever file, "I'm sure, Gibbs."

He gave her a hug and kissed her head, "Thanks."

Gibbs was half way out of the lab door when Abby called out to him, "Gibbs?"

"Yeah Abby?"

"You don't believe they're dead do you?"

He just closed his eyes, and leveled with her, "It's a gut feeling Abby. I know the evidence points elsewhere, but something's off here."

"Do you want me to keep digging? Because I'd love to prove you're gut right, because I cannot accept the fact that they're gone."

"Oh, they're gone Abby, I know that, I just don't think they're dead, in the meantime I have to contact Tony's Dad."

"Why?" She asked confused, "I mean, why bother if Tony and Ziva aren't really dead?"

"Because I have to play the game if I want to find out how it's played. Keep digging, but keep it low key."

"Low key, no problem!" she sent him a salute.

He smiled and left the lab.

Now he had work to do.


	16. Chapter 16

Gibbs let himself out and left the Navy Yard. He headed to his home—and went straight for the basement. Pulling a panel out of the wall, he opened the hidden drawer and pulled out the letter Tony had given him a few weeks prior.

He looked the letter over and noticed the envelope wasn't sealed, rather the lip was just tucked inside. He thought he'd read it first, but then decided it wasn't the right thing to do.

He picked up his cell phone and made a call.

"Hello?" answered the familiar voice.

"AD? This is Gibbs."

"Gibbs? I take it if you're calling this isn't good news."

"Why do you say that?" Gibbs was curious.

"I've had more federal agents asking me about Junior in the last two weeks than anyone has ever asked me during his whole life. It isn't good news, is it?" The worry in Senior's voice was quite clear.

"We need to talk."

"I'm in New York. It will take me some time to get to DC."

"Tomorrow afternoon, my place?"

"Good Enough."

Gibbs didn't go to work the next day. He called Vance and told him about Senior coming to town. Gibbs got to work in his basement—he needed the distraction.

When Senior finally arrived Gibbs invited him to sit on his couch and then the worried father asked, "You're going to tell me something happened to Junior, aren't you?

"I wish it were good news, I really do. Tony is one of the best," He answered.

"What happened?"

Gibbs explained that Tony went to find Ziva in hiding to protect her and that Mossad is saying they are both dead now.

He wasn't going to cry, but it was visibly upsetting, "He died protecting Ziva?"

"I think he knew when he left he wasn't coming back." Gibbs added.

"He loved her?" It wasn't really a question.

Gibbs nodded. "Yes—but in the end, we lost them both."

"Ziva?" he asked.

"They're both gone."

Senior was speechless.

Gibbs handed him the envelope, "He left you this letter."

Senior took the letter and opened it slowly. Seeing the handwriting prompted him to take out his reading glasses and then he took in a deep breath and started from the beginning:

_Dear Dad, _

_If you're reading this letter, then you probably already know that I'm not coming back. I didn't plan for things to end up this way. I know how hard it was for you to lose Mom, and I don't want this to be hard on you. I did what I had to do for the woman I loved and you should know it was worth it. I know you would have done the same for Mom if you were in my shoes. That's just how us DiNozzo's are when it comes to our women._

_I don't want you to get into any more bad business deals. I worry about you. So I've set up a trust for you. It will take care of you for the rest of your days. I know you always thought I didn't have money, but the truth is I was saving money for my retirement one day. If you're reading this, I obviously won't need it and I want you to have it. Just promise me, no more business deals. Retire Dad, you can afford it now. _

_I am leaving the rest of my stuff and a second trust fund to Gibbs. I wanted to give something back—and he'll find a way to make sure it keeps on giving to those who need it. I trust him. He's been like a second dad to me and he's a smart man. I can't think of anyone better to carry out my wishes. _

_Well take care of yourself. I'll see you again one day._

_I love you, Tony._

Senior had a hard time keeping his composure while reading the letter. He was proud of his son—and how many times did he fail to tell him that? He shared the letter with Gibbs. And Gibbs couldn't have been more proud of Tony in that moment.

"I still can't believe he's gone, Gibbs." Senior's voice was saddened, "How did it happen."

"That part I'm a little sketchy on."

"What do you mean?" Senior was slightly alarmed.

"I don't have all the facts yet." Gibbs admitted.

"So you don't know how he died?" Senior was confused.

Gibbs gave in and sighed, "Ahh, A.D. I know what they're telling me—I know what they want me to believe."

Senior was observant, "But something is telling you there is more to the story?"

Gibbs nodded and mentioned, "There is one more thing,"

"Yes?"

"We've been told that Ziva has been cremated and buried in Israel. Do you know what Tony's wishes were?"

"We had never discussed them, Gibbs, it isn't something you ever want to discuss with your own children."

Gibbs knew that, "It has been suggested, that perhaps we cremate him and bury him with Ziva." Gibbs paused, "Now you're his father, and we can bring him home, you just have to say the word."

"I don't know Gibbs…" He took in a deep breath, "I always thought he'd be buried near his mother and I at the cemetery in Baltimore, with whoever he married, but this letter. He loved her, if they want to be together..." He looked up and studied Gibbs for a minute—when he wanted to be, Senior was very perceptive, "You don't like it do you? I can see your wheels turning. Gibbs, what are you thinking?"

"It is all too convenient. Tony's not Israeli. They were both US citizens, why not send them both back here to be cremated and buried?"

"I see your point. What do we do Gibbs?"

This is where Gibbs was frustrated, "I'm working on that part."

Senior was starting to form a plan, "Tell them I said, let them be together."

Gibbs looked at Senior surprised, "So you're okay with it? What if they are really both dead?"

He nodded, "He wouldn't want to be separated from her even in death, I'm sure."

Gibbs raised his eyebrows, "Because they loved each other?"

Senior added, "That, and because it's the Hollywood movie ending he would have wanted Gibbs."

Gibbs laughed, "That sounds like Tony."

"Whatever it takes Gibbs. Let's find out the truth."

"Okay, I'll notify our contact in Israel and then that just leaves me to figure this mess out."

Senior gave him a cheshire cat smile, "Don't you mean "us" Gibbs?" He let his words sink in before adding, "What do you need me to do first,_ partner_?"


	17. Chapter 17

It was nearly two months before Ziva or Tony could consider leaving the Mossad complex. While the rest of the world believed Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David were dead, they were very much alive fighting their battles to keep it that way.

Tony's stab wound and surgery to repair his damaged organs left him with a severe infection, which went septic and nearly killed him. Ziva needed time to heal from her injuries and she also needed surgery on her knee and follow-up rehab.

At first, Orli was against Tony and Ziva taking on their new identities together. She was thoroughly convinced the only way that they could both go undetected in the Israeli Witness Protection Program (IWPP), was if they went their separate ways with their new identities. Of course, neither Ziva nor Tony would settle for any option that involved them separating.

They finally convinced Orli to work up a plan for travel to their new destination that wouldn't arouse any indication that Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David were in fact still alive. The plan not only included new identities for each of them, it included separate travel and various modes of travel for each of them. After all, the CIA was used to people "dying" and then turning up alive years later and they had the technology to identify nearly anyone if they had tried hard enough to find them.

Tony and Ziva's biggest battle came in the form of a request. They asked to be married prior to their departure from Israel, so that Ziva could take at least one good memory away from the country she grew up in. Unfortunately, it wasn't a request Orli was eager to approve.

Ziva protested, "I'd like to be married here, in Israel, before moving to wherever you are sending us."

Orli was grinding her teeth, "You realize that means you are likely to be spotted or identified? It isn't like you blend in well Ziva, being the daughter of the former director of Mossad, you are recognizable. We need to keep you hidden."

"Then arrange to keep me hidden. You have the resources!"

"Do you realize what you are asking? You risk exposure and blowing your new identity before you're even officially given it. You're father would never give in to this demand!"

"Well, if my father were still alive, I would not have this problem in the first place!" She nearly shouted, "I would still be living at home, in the US, working at NCIS."

"And now you're father is gone," Orli reminded Ziva.

"And because he is gone, I am no longer safe in my home country or my adopted one!" Ziva retorted.

"Officially, you are no longer alive." She countered.

That was a hot button for Ziva, "How would you like to have zero options when it came to your life, Orli? How would you like to be hunted, almost killed, and then wake up and find out you no longer technically exist? It is easy for you, because when I'm gone, you still have your life! You still have your job!" Her blood was still boiling, but her voice had calmed down a notch or two, "Look, I am not above taking risks. I want to marry Tony, here in Israel, before you put us in IWPP. And then, when I'm gone, you can stop all your fuss and forget that I ever existed!" Ziva folded her arms across her chest.

Orli was taken back. Eli had mentioned his daughters temper—but she hadn't ever seen Ziva this mad. She really did want to make this as easy as possible for Ziva and Tony but she also had to consider their safety. "I know this is not easy for you Ziva. It is also not easy for me. I just need take every precaution to ensure your safety."

"Why?"Ziva snapped.

"Because years ago, when your father and I—" Orli paused, realizing that this might be a sore subject with Ziva, so she chose her words carefully, "were discussing matters, he had asked if anything should ever happen to him, that I would see to it that his children were taken care of. It was a promise I wasn't even sure I could keep at the time, but I saw how much he loved you and Tali and Ari. How could I say no to that? And now that your father is gone, and you're the only one left alive, I feel I have only one shot to get this right, Ziva. I cannot let him down."

It made Ziva pause for a moment and her temper simmered. She realized that although Orli was partially responsible for her parents breaking up—her father was also just as responsible. She also knew the lengths a person would go to when they loved someone. Tony had shown Ziva, more than anyone, what a person was willing to do for someone they loved. So out of curiosity, she asked Orli, "You loved my father?"

Orli wasn't sure how she should answer that question, but figured it didn't hurt to go the honesty route, "Yes Ziva, I did love your father, very much. Your father," she sighed, "he was quite the man. I was taken by him almost immediately, but I knew next to nothing about him, except he was an Officer and I was just a rookie. When I learned he was married—I was crushed and I had every intention of walking away. But your father, he was the type of man who got what he wanted. He was rather persuasive and he convinced me not to go." She reflected sadly for a moment. "It didn't last more than a few years, but even after we were no longer together, we kept a close friendship until he passed. And the one thing I knew about him was how much he loved his children; he especially adored his two girls." She paused a moment, " So you see, it is more than just my job to ensure your safety—it is also a promise I made to your father."

"But I am not a child anymore," she wondered why Orli still felt obligated to keep that promise to her father.

"Oh Ziva, you may have grown up and your father may be gone, but you will forever be his child—no matter how old you are."

Ziva better understood Orli's position and she thought it was worth asking again, "Is there any way to persuade you to allow Tony and I to be married here in Israel?"

Orli stood, "You may look like your mother, but you definitely are your father's daughter. I could never say no to him, and likewise, I find it difficult to deny you what you want most. It will need to be low key—almost discrete. Are you going to be okay with that?"

Ziva finally relaxed, "I don't think either of us would have it any other way."


	18. Chapter 18

A week and a half later, Orli arranged for Tony and Ziva to be married in the town of Atlit, Israel, a small town on the Mediterranean Sea. She rented a venue called Shonit, a popular place for those wanting to be married on a private beach. She had rented it for the entire day and told Tony and Ziva that she had it minimally staffed to limit exposure.

The day of the wedding, Tony didn't have a ring to slide on Ziva's finger and he really didn't have the finest digs to wear to his own wedding. Orli had provided him with a suit—but it wasn't the caliber of suits he was used to and it wasn't a tuxedo. Life was different now and it would take some getting used to, but as long as he had Ziva he knew he'd be okay.

He wondered if Ziva would be disappointed with the lack of a ring, but he figured whenever they got settled in their new home, he would rectify that situation. In the meantime, he wanted to choose a few words to say to her at the ceremony…and while a lot of words coming to mind—nothing seemed to be _the words_ he wanted to say to her at their ceremony.

They arrived at Shonit at 05:00pm. They had taken separate cars and arrived at separate times. The place was huge and could have easily handled a couple hundred guests—but this day it was just an official magistrate, Tony, Ziva, Orli, a few agents, and a skeleton crew to operate the facility.

There was an altar overlooking the Mediterranean Sea—the sun was in the west and it was most beautifully decorated. A picture perfect wedding, Tony thought to himself.

He met the magistrate and shook his hand, and then returned to the grooms dressing area to freshen up and try to get the words he wanted to say in his head. He looked himself in the mirror, reciting phrases that came to mind—but nothing was quite right. It was almost 6:40 and decided he needed to head back outside and take his place.

When he opened the door, he jumped about 10 feet in the air, "Dad!"

"Junior!" He said with a smile, "I don't think you should get married in that suit. Here I brought you a tux." He passed him in the doorway carrying a couple of garment bags over his arm.

"Dad, how did you find me?" Tony asked incredulously shutting the door and leaning up against it so no one else would come in that room and see them together.

"That part was easy, I got on a plane and followed Gibbs." He turned his attention towards the garment bag he was unzipping, "Here, this tux is yours, really you should wear a tux, after all it is your wedding day." His dad was grinning from ear to ear as if he were up to something.

"Gibbs knows?" Tony asked.

Senior gave him a half-hearted disappointed look, "Come on, Junior. You should know by now that Gibbs always knows or at least finds out."

"But Dad, I am supposed to be officially dead."

"Except now you're officially undead. So get dressed. Come on Junior, you're marrying Ziva!"

"I know but how do you know?"

"I told you—GIBBS!"

Tony sighed out, "So I'm no longer dead?"

"Not unless you don't make it to that altar on time."

Tony finally heard what his dad was saying and nodded. He took the garment bag and stopped and looked at his dad for a minute then gave him a big hug, "I'm so glad you're here," he sighed outwards.

"Me too—and Junior, promise me one thing?" He asked.

"What's that Dad?"

"Never send me another letter like that as long as I live." He smiled.

Tony smiled back,"Alright, no more letters." Tony agreed.

Tony and his dad changed into their tuxes. And after they'd put on their shoes, Senior came up to Tony and said, "I have something for you."

"What's that Dad?" Tony said putting on his tie.

"Here, I want you to have this."

It was a small box and Tony opened it to see a beautiful emerald cut diamond ring set in gold . It wasn't too big, it wasn't too small. It was simple, elegant, and stunning.

"Dad?"

"It was the ring I proposed to your mother with…and she said yes." He said remembering fondly, "She wore it until the day she died, but she didn't want to be buried with it. She wanted me to pass it along—except we had no daughters. So, I thought maybe if you didn't have a ring for Ziva, she could wear it until she got something she liked." Senior shrugged her shoulders.

"Wow." Tony was shocked, "Dad, she's going to love this."

"I hope so—the best years of my life were when that ring was on your mother's finger. I'm hoping the best years of your life will be when it's on Ziva's finger."

Tony was speechless. He looked at his dad, "This is great. Thank you."

"You ready to go meet up with the others?" His dad asked letting the moment pass.

"Others? There are others?"

"Yeah they should be here by now. Come on, let's go."

* * *

Ziva had put her dress on and managed to zip it in the back. Then she put a few finishing touches of makeup on her face and fixed a few pieces of hair. She looked at herself in the mirror and she saw Orli walk up behind her.

"My my, don't you look beautiful." Orli said.

"Thank you." Ziva turned towards her, "Thank you for letting us do this."

"Well I have a bit of a surprise for you." She announced.

"A surprise? You did not have to get me something." Ziva said curiously.

"It isn't something, it is someone." She announced with a smile.

Ziva reacted by turning away, "If it is Tony he should not see me before we say our vows."

The knock came three times and a familiar, "Hello," was heard. Ziva turned around, "Gibbs?"  
Ziva stood there shocked. He gave her a smirk which turned into a smile as soon as he seen how beautiful she was…"but I'm supposed to be dead?" she looked to Orli.

"You are not dead." Gibbs answered.

"I am not?" She asked.

"You look very much alive to me." Gibbs joked.

"But –Tony and I we're supposed to be dead. The CIA is after me."

"They were—but now they're not."

"They're not?" Ziva was really puzzled.

"You are officially no longer dead." Orli announced. I will let you two be. And she left the room.

"Does Tony know?" she asked.

"He does now." He answered.

"You told him?" she asked.

"No Senior is here—he went to see him."

Ziva's smile grew and she hugged Gibbs. When she pulled away she said, "How?"

"It is a really long story—wasn't sure I was going to figure it out on time—but consider it a wedding gift."

She looked at him, "You're okay with this, with Tony and I marrying?"

He smiled back, "It is about time you two figured things out, besides, last I checked you two quit NCIS."

She could not be happier. "Oh the time, Gibbs, I am supposed to be getting married right now."

"Hey wait a second." He said to slow her down, "The others aren't here yet."

"The others—who?" she asked.

"You didn't think you were going to go get married without your family did you?" he smirked.

Just then, Abby and Breena walked into the room and Abby nearly plowed Gibbs over to get to Ziva, "You're alive—You're really alive!" Abby exclaimed.

Ziva hugged Abby, "Yes, yes I am."

"You didn't think I'd miss your wedding did you? I mean, I wasn't officially invited, but I didn't think you'd mind. You don't mind do you because if you do…."

"Abby, I'm grateful you came." Ziva said trying to calm her down, "Breena, good to see you again, she gave her a hug."

Gibbs went to slip out of room and Ziva called after him, "Gibbs, wait."

He turned around, "What is it Ziver?"

She walked up to him and asked him, "Since you're here, would you do the honor of walking me down the aisle this afternoon?"

He kissed her head, "I would love to," he whispered. "But I have to go change."

"Change?" Ziva asked.

"Yeah, I can't give you away wearing this," he smiled, then turned and walked out of the room.

Something told Ziva that this wasn't a last minute wedding—and she didn't know how, and she didn't care, she was just thankful.

* * *

_**Author Note: The wedding location mentioned in this chapter is a real location. I don't know really too much about it, but I did find it through a simple google search. Anyway it looked so beautiful, decided to use a real location for the big day. :)**_


	19. Chapter 19

Tony and Senior had caught up with Gibbs, Tim, Ducky, Jimmy, and Director Vance and the kids. He was worried at first Gibbs wouldn't approve—but he soon realized that wasn't the case. "Hey Boss, how'd you figure it out?"

Gibbs tilted his head to the side and gave him a smile, "Orli left things a little too clean."

"Clean, huh?" Tony thought about it for a minute, "How is it the CIA isn't after Ziva or myself anymore?"

"Cleared things up, that's all," he answered.

"Just like that? You cleared things up?" Tony wondered aloud.

"Yeah, you know made things go away."

"Made things go away?" Tony was struggling to understand.

"It's taken care of," Gibbs said, "doesn't matter how-just that it's done."

Tony had always trusted Gibbs-and he knew if Gibbs said it was done, it was done-but just one thing bothered Tony, "Except my old man was somehow involved, and so I'm guessing there was a little more to it then you're letting on?"

Gibbs looked at him, "You're Dad's a good guy Tony. He'd do just about anything for you. You need to appreciate him."

Tony couldn't figure out what Gibbs was getting at-and he sure as heck wasn't going to figure him out anytime soon, "I do. And I appreciate you. I don't know how you did it-but you did it. And we might actually get back to our lives sometime soon." Tony held out his hand to shake Gibbs, and Gibbs met him, but Tony surprised him and pulled him in for a quick man hug. "Thanks." He added quietly.

"It's about family, just remember that." Gibbs looked at his watch, "I think it is almost show time." Gibbs nodded in Ziva's direction to indicate he was going to get her.

"Not soon enough." Tony sighed and turned and grabbed McGee and headed to take his place. Tony was a bit nervous but more than anything, he couldn't wait to marry Ziva.

Tim agreed to be the best man, and Abby agreed to be Ziva's maid of honor. At 07:45 pm local time, some beautiful music began to play and Abby walked down the outdoor aisle, toward the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea, and took her place near the alter and turned waiting for Ziva's entrance.

The music shifted and everyone turned and stood. It wasn't a huge wedding—just the NCIS family but it was enough. Gibbs proudly walked Ziva towards the altar, the sun softly beaming on their faces.

Tony's heart raced and his eyes grew misty. He had never seen Ziva look so beautiful. To think that she was walking down the aisle _towards him,_ to marry_ him_, made him nervous, anxious, and excited all at the same time.

Gibbs had brought her all the way up and the magistrate asked, "Who gives this woman to be married?"

Gibbs answered, "We do," implying her NCIS family. Then he kissed her cheek and Ziva was clearly touched by his words.

Ziva smiled as Gibbs placed her hand in Tony's. She then focused her attention on Tony and when their eyes met, she couldn't help but smile.

The magistrate said a few sweet words that no one would ever remember and he had them recite their vows.

Then Tony slipped the ring his father had given him on Ziva's finger, and Ziva's eyes lit up and she caught her breath. The ring was absolutely beautiful. It fit perfectly and she had no idea how Tony managed to get a ring in the first place but the proud look on his face told her that there was a story he was dying to tell her.

And then the magistrate asked if either of them had words they'd like to add.

Ziva went first looking Tony deep into the eyes, "Tony you have never failed to surprise me, with your thoughtfulness, your friendship, and your love. I thought I had you figured out the moment I met you, but to my surprise, I had barely scratched the surface. You started out as my partner, then you became my friend, and it would only follow that you would become my best friend. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you. And while you and I have had our moments, somewhere deep down, I knew all along, you were my soul mate." She paused because her voice was cracking from trying to hold back the tears, "You, Tony, have shown me that something permanent exists where there is love, and I love you. And I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

Ziva was crying now, something she would not have been comfortable doing in front of Tony or her NCIS family just a few years ago. But these were happy tears. Abby handed her a tissue and she carefully wiped them, and then returned the tissue and waited for Tony.

His eyes were misty and he had a lump in his throat. He held her hands and he still had no idea what he was going to say. He dug deep and reached into his soul and slowly the words emerged from his lips:

"Ziva—" his voice was full of emotion, and he had to take a moment, "Wow." he breathed out. Then the words flowed, "When we came here today, I could never have imagined that our wedding would turn out like this—that the future we faced would seem a bit more certain than when we had arrived. But when I came here today, I only knew one thing to be true: my future would not be a future at all, without you in it. To say you complete me, is an understatement. You balance me. You make me a better person. You're like the air I breathe-without you I cease to exist, but with you I am happy and alive." He swallowed and looked deep into her eyes and ended up leaning his forehead on hers. Their noses were touching, his lips just mere inches from hers. He was trying not to lose it and continued, his voice cracking, "You are my soul mate. And I love you with everything that I am." He was trying hard not to cry and the intensity of their stare was a bit too much. Tony pulled back slightly and looked sideways towards the magistrate and asked, "Am I allowed to kiss her yet?"

Everyone laughed, including Ziva. And the magistrate said, "By the State of Israel, I proclaim you husband and wife. Now, you may kiss her."

Tony didn't hesitate, he pulled her in and his eyes were no longer misty—they were smiling at hers and she put her arms around his neck and pulled Tony to her.

When their lips met it ignited something fierce in both of them. They got a little carried away in the moment, and those moments turned into minutes. When they pulled apart it was quite apparent they weren't ready to do so...but graciously they turned and faced their family and friends. Everyone clapped. Ziva leaned into Tony, his hand still around her waist, he squeezed her, "Can you believe this?" he whispered down to her. "They're all here."

"I know. I am so happy." She hugged his waist back, "Come on—let's go greet them."

And they marched back down the aisle as a married couple to greet everyone there.

* * *

They all ate a wonderful dinner, and a cake was brought out for them to cut and shared. There was a dance floor inside, and Ziva and Tony danced with each other-and Ziva had her hands full dancing with Gibbs, Ducky, Senior, Director Vance, McGee and even Palmer. Tony danced with Abby, Breena, and Kayla. And he was gracious enough to ask Orli to dance-after all she was willing, to help keep them together.

Finally, a slow tune came on and Tony stole Ziva away from his Dad, "Sorry Dad, this dance has my number."

Ziva looked up and smiled at Tony, somewhat relieved to finally be with him again. Senior smiled, "Why of course," and he looked at Ziva, "Don't let him step on your toes."

She laughed and wrapped her hands around Tony's neck. "I take it you missed me?" She raised her eyebrows in a teasing manner.

"Shhhh..." he hushed her.

She wasn't sure what was going on, she lowered her voice, "What is it, Tony?"

He just shook his head and when he looked into her eyes they pierced her very soul with the most seductive look she'd ever caught from him.

She realized he just needed this to be about them-_only them_-and she was mesmerized by his hypnotic stare. She was quite turned on by the silent and sexy Tony as his eyes continued to bore suggestive messages into her soul.

Their bodies were meshed, they were swaying to the music, and before they knew it gravity had taken over and their lips met-slowly at first-but it had soon heated up, and everyone could see the passion and intensity between the two of them.

McGee wondered allowed, "And all of this happened when they got to Israel?"

Gibbs head slapped him, "Come on, McGee you'd have to be in a dark closet not to see this coming, they've only been fighting the inevitable for 8 years."

"But I didn't-"

"McGee!" Abby chimed in, "You sit with them everyday-how could you not see this coming a mile away?"

"I thought they couldn't stand each other." he said naively.

Everyone kinda chuckled. "Don't feel bad Tim," Director Vance admitted, "I was just as in the dark as you were until Gibbs told me a few weeks back."

"Yes, But Director," Ducky added, "You aren't around them everyday."

"I thought they were already married," Kayla, Director Vance's daughter added.

Jared added, "Yeah-I did too. They were so much fun when they were at our house!"

McGee was still scratching his head and everyone laughed as they watched the two love birds make out on the dance floor.

Orli walked in and announced the limos were ready when they were-to take them to their hotel. The song ended and Tony and Ziva pulled apart long enough to realize their guests were getting ready to leave.

"Where are you staying?" Ziva asked to everyone in general.

"Orli has us at the resort down the road," Gibbs answered.

"Yes, it is a five star hotel-I've heard excellent reviews about it," Senior added.

"I'm glad everyone could make it for this. Really surprised us." Tony added.

"Wouldn't have missed it for anything," Abby added as she hugged them both.

Tony and Ziva hugged everyone as they left and Orli announced, "When you two are ready, your limo is ready for you. You're staying in the penthouse at the same hotel-they just don't know it. Driver will wait until you're ready."

Ziva smiled, "Thank you, for everything."

"You are most welcome." Orli hugged Ziva and shook Tony's hand and then left.

Ziva turned to Tony, "Are you ready to leave, then?"

He thought for a minute, "Not yet." Then he nodded his head towards the doors, "Come with me a minute."

He led her by the hand and took her outside-to the edge of the patio that overlooked the sea, "Dance with me?"

"But there is no music out here?" she asked.

"We have the moon, the stars, each other- music enough for me."

She didn't hesitate, she fell into his arms, and they swayed under the stars. Then Ziva spoke, "I can't believe how everything turned out."

"Leave it to Gibbs and my Dad to figure it out and make us officially undead."

"How exactly did they do that?" She asked.

"You know Gibbs-he won't ever tell us-not even if we pester him. He'll want us to figure it out like he did. Now my Dad, we may eventually get it out of him."

She smiled and admitted, "When I left DC fearing for my life, I had no idea what the future held for me. I could not have imagined that you would find me or that we would end up married in front of all our friends and family."

"Well, believe it baby," Tony teased.

"If you had not come, I may not have lived," she said in hindsight.

"But I came, and I found you and you lived. We both did." He smiled at her.

"You," she paused, "Amaze me."

"You know," Tony added, "I would have moved heaven and earth to find you Ziva. I would have traveled to the other side of the moon and back if that is what it would have taken."

She looked him deep in the eyes, "Yes, yes, I believe you would have, but for the life of me, I don't know why."

"Because the heart knows what it wants, Ziva. And this heart wanted you."

He amazed her with every word, every facial gesture, every move he made. She pulled his face down to her and she kissed him with everything in her soul. She held on to him with her whole being. She finally felt like they were one. Then she pulled back, her voice raspy, "I love you" she swallowed and added, "and now I think we need to find our room," she searched his eyes hoping he'd catch her drift.

There was a glint of anticipation in his eyes, "Lead the way Ms. _Da-veed_"

She smiled and lead him by the hand, took a few steps, turned, and narrowed her eyes at him, "That's _Mrs. DiNozzo_ to you."

A grin spread across his face. It was the sexiest thing she had said to him all day.

* * *

_**Author Note: I just want to say thank you to all of you who've taken the time to read my first fan fiction and who have taken time to comment. I am ending this one here-because the premiere of 11 x 01 is less than 24 hours from when I published this chapter and I think I will be mentally incapable of continuing for awhile. **_

_**So I leave my story here. The only resolution I would be satisfied with, is one where Tony and Ziva end up married. I know Cote is leaving the show and it breaks my heart, rips out my guts, and just ugh! Anyway- it would be my hope that somehow even though Cote isn't on screen they'd leave it as they got married and she left NCIS to do something else, since she could no longer be on the team. . I can hope-but I know that won't happen. So here's my answer to how I'd like them to end up. The rest of the story leading up to this-was just me trying to keep it somewhat interesting. **_

_**Again thank you if you've made it to this chapter. I appreciate all of you. Who knows, maybe I'll try my hand at writing something after 11 x02 if I actually survive it. HA!**_


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